What we discern we see apart from all other objects; what we discriminate we judge apart; what we distinguish we mark apart, or recognize by some special mark or manifest difference.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

distinguish We cannot distinguish her from her younger sister.
perceive I perceive by your face that you have good news.
comprehend This theory is too difficult for me to comprehend.
ascertain We will first ascertain the cause of the disaster.
discriminate You should not discriminate against people based on their sex.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
discern		rising
distinguish		steady
perceive		rising
comprehend		rising
ascertain		falling
discriminate		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: see¹, spy¹, ken¹
4 letters: know¹, tell¹, spot¹, espy²
5 letters: scent¹
6 letters: detect², behold²
7 letters: observe²
8 letters: separate³, discover³, perceive²
9 letters: recognize³, recognise³, penetrate³, ascertain³
10 letters: understand³, comprehend³
11 letters: distinguish³
12 letters: discriminate⁴
13 letters: differentiate⁵

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (espy² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: discerner
Italiano: discernere
Español: discernir
Deutsch: unterscheiden