Discriminer

Discriminer is a French verb meaning to discriminate. In general use, it has two main senses. In neutral usage, it means to distinguish or differentiate between things, such as identifying features or categories. In social and legal contexts, it refers to the act of treating people unfairly or denying rights on the basis of attributes such as race, sex, age, religion, or nationality. The noun form is discrimination (la discrimination). The term comes from Latin discriminare, via Old French. In English, the cognate verb discriminate shares these senses; the form discriminer is encountered mainly in French-language texts or discussions about the French language.

In practical use, discriminer as a neutral verb is common in science and everyday speech: for example, to discriminate between objects or to discriminate between two options. In legal and human rights contexts, discriminer describes actions or policies that disadvantage individuals or groups based on protected characteristics. Many legal systems prohibit such acts and require equal treatment; anti-discrimination laws vary by country, but share the goal of preventing unfair treatment in employment, housing, education, and public services.

In technical fields, to discriminate can also mean to differentiate signals or categories algorithmically, as in pattern recognition or data classification. This is a neutral usage that is not related to social attributes. Overall, discriminer covers linguistic, ethical, legal, and technical domains, with meaning shaped by context and intention.