Editing Discrimination (section)

==Etymology==

The term ''discriminate'' appeared in the early 17th century in the English language. It is from the [[Latin language|Latin]] ''discriminat-'' 'distinguished between', from the verb ''discriminare'', from ''discrimen'' 'distinction', from the verb ''discernere'' (corresponding to "to discern").<ref>{{cite web|title=Definition of discrimination; Origin|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/discriminate?q=discriminate|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514145943/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/discriminate?q=discriminate|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 14, 2013|work=Oxford Dictionaries|publisher= Oxford University|access-date=January 14, 2013}}</ref> Since the [[American Civil War]] the term "discrimination" generally evolved in [[American English]] usage as an understanding of prejudicial treatment of an individual based solely on their race, later generalized as membership in a certain socially undesirable [[Social group|group]] or social category.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Introduction to sociology |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] Inc. |year=2009 |edition=7th |location=New York |page=324 |medium=Print}}</ref> 
Before this sense of the word became almost universal, it was a synonym for discernment, tact and culture as in "taste and discrimination", generally a laudable attribute; to "discriminate against" being commonly disparaged.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Simpson, J.A. |title=The Oxford Dictionary |edition=2nd |year=1989 |volume=IV |page=758 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=0-19861216-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Macquarie Concise Thesaurus — Australia's National Thesaurus |editor=Richard Tardif |year=1985 |publisher=The Macquarie Library |isbn=0-94975797-7}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=January 2024}}