Think of a hand sorting things into two piles. The basic act is seeing that this and that are not the same, and separating them. That act is neutral by itself — but when the things being sorted are people, and the sorting decides who gets the job or the loan, the same word turns heavy.
From the word’s history
From Latin discrīminō 'to divide, separate, distinguish', built on discrīmen, the dividing line or gap between two things. The image at the root is literally a line drawn between — which is why both the neutral 'tell apart' and the harmful 'treat apart' fit the same word.
借自拉丁文 discrīminō「劃分、區隔、分辨」，來自名詞 discrīmen——兩者之間的那條「分界線」。字根埋的就是一條線的畫面，這正好解釋了為什麼兩個現代意思都放得進同一個字：一個是在腦子裡畫線（分得出來），一個是在人與人之間畫線（區別對待）。
Wiktionary 'discriminate' etymology (first attested 1615, from Latin discrīminātus, past participle of discrīminō, from discrīmen 'division, distinction').
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原始詞典資料6 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
discriminateverb/dɪˈskɹɪm.ɪ.neɪt/
- 1
To make distinctions.
- Since he was color blind he was unable to discriminate between the blue and green bottles.
- 2
To treat or affect differently, depending on differences in traits.
- Low self-esteem can affect both rich and poor people: it doesn't discriminate.
- 3
To treat or affect differently, depending on differences in traits.
- The law prohibits discriminating against people based on their skin color.
- “The more a young person is discriminated against, the more likely they will experience emotional difficulties including depression, anxiety, self-esteem issues and even suicidal ideation,” said Duffy, who specializes in work with teens, parents, couples and families, and wrote the book “Parenting the New Teen in the Age of Anxiety.”
- 4
To treat or affect differently, depending on differences in traits.
- The ordinance condones immorality and discriminates against my children's rights to grow up in a healthy, decent community.
- There's also expected to be a ruling out of Washington over Texas' efforts to impose a restrictive new voter law that many minority groups allege discriminates against their right to vote.
- 5
To set apart as being different; to mark as different; to separate from another by discerning differences; to distinguish.
- To discriminate the goats from the sheep.
- Still stranger much, that when at length mankind Had reach'd the sinewy firmness of their youth, And could discriminate and argue well On subjects more mysterious
discriminateadj/dɪˈskɹɪm.ɪ.nət/
- 1
Having its differences marked; distinguished by certain tokens.
- Nevertheless it is certain, that oisters, and cockles, and mussels, which move not, have no discriminate sex
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。