The words discreet and discrete can often be difficult to understand due to their similar spellings and pronunciations. This article aims to cover the difference between these words and help you understand discreetly vs discretely usage!
1. What Does Discreet Mean?
Discreet is an adjective that refers to a subject or an object being secretive or silent with respect to a confidential standpoint towards what is prudent in nature. Prudent simply means being secretive on a certain topic whereas discreet means holding onto the secrecy of that matter. Both of these words are interchangeable. The word discreet can be used in a sentence like – the file that I sent you is of discreet nature. This means that the file is highly confidential and only to be seen by the receiver or the person of interest. (See What Does Merry Christmas Mean?)
2. History of the Word Discreet
- One origin reference is the word discerning which was used to depict a wise person. However, it was nearly taken off the track as Anglo-French was disregarded for being an inconsistent language.
- Later, it was also spotted within the realms of Latin, where the word meant being a separate entity or having a difference.
- This then led to the dictionary of the Middle East having two different meanings from one another, i.e., being secretive or prudent in nature or having a different or separate quality from one another.
- It wasn’t until the sixteenth century that the meaning of the word was sealed and referred to as what we know now viz being confidential. (See Meaning of 40)
3. What Does Discrete Mean?
Since the beginning of the Modern English era through Great Britain, the word discrete charmed its way to take the remaining spot and took the word that meant being separate or different. Discrete means being a separate entity or being different in nature from a pertaining perspective in front of an object or a subject with respect to the given situation.
For e.g., the two files I sent you are discrete in nature, which would mean the two files that are sent are completely different in regards to the object of the contents of that file. These should not be mistaken in any shape or form. More sentences regarding discreetly vs discretely will be discussed in an upcoming segment. (See The Interesting History of Alphabet)
4. History of the Word Discrete
Although the meaning of the word has the same origin as that of discreet, discrete did not appear anywhere until two centuries later. In the eighteenth century, this word in the English dictionary where it was redacted and repurposed with the meaning of its origin, i.e., being separate or different. (See True Basket Case Definition)
5. Discrete and Discreet Noun
We have discussed that both discrete and discreet are adjectives, but confusion arises as -ly is added to both of these words, changing them into nouns. The meaning doesn’t change that much but the case scenario is changed when mentioning it. The next segment will discuss examples to further clear up this confusion. (See Phase vs Faze)
6. Discreetly vs Discretely in Sentences
This segment will cover some basic grounds on the sentences for discreet vs discrete and discreetly vs discretely.
- Those two books are discreet and have discrete content. This means that both the books are confidential and have different content as well.
- All of these tasks are discreetly done, and no one knows about it. This is how one would use discreetly in a sentence.
- These tasks should be discretely done – which means that the tasks are separate or different from each other.
Now we know the meaning of the words discreet and discrete, their differences, and how to use them in sentences!
