Discrete

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /dɪˈskɹiːt/

Definitions

1. Individually separate and distinct, not continuous or connected together
2. Individually distinct and separate, each entity remaining apart from others without blending together
3. Characterized by being separate elements that do not interact as a continuous whole

Etymology: The word "discrete" and its near-twin "discreet" split from a single Latin verb, and the two spellings took on very different jobs. The Latin "discernere" meant "to divide" or "to separate," built from "dis-" (apart) and "cernere," which meant "to sift" or "to distinguish." The past participle "discretus" carried the sense of something separated out, kept apart from what surrounds it. That sense passed into Old French as "discret," and English borrowed it from there. The two forms diverged in English because of the spelling conventions that grew up around French loanwords. "Discreet," with its extra "e," came to mean careful, tactful, or able to keep a secret, a sense that grew from the idea of keeping things separated and unspoken. "Discrete," keeping closer to the original Latin idea, stayed with the meaning of separateness: a thing that is distinct and not blended into anything else. Mathematicians and computer scientists now use it for countable, separate values, as opposed to continuous ones.

Synonyms: separate, distinct, individual, detached, unconnected

Antonyms: continuous, connected, combined, unified, integrated