Webster's English Dictionary

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discernment

dis.cern.ment \dis-'*rn-m*nt, diz-\ n 1: an act of discerning  2: skill in 
   discerning or discriminating : keenness of insight ATION, INSIGHT, ACUMEN 
   mean a power to see what is not evident to the average mind. DISCERNMENT 
   stresses accuracy esp. in reading character or motives; DISCRIMINATION 
   stresses the power to distinguish and select what is true or appropriate or 
   genuinely excellent; PERCEPTION implies quick and often sympathetic 
   discernment, as of shades of feeling; PENETRATION implies a searching mind 
   that goes beyond what is obvious or superficial; INSIGHT suggests depth of 
   discernment; ACUMEN implies characteristic penetration combined with keen 
   practical judgment SYN syn DISCERNMENT, DISCRIMINATION, PERCEPTION, PENETR