discretionary

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /dɪˈskrɛʃəˌnɛri/ UK /dɪˈskrɛʃənəri/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
available for use at one's own judgment or choice

Managers may award bonuses from a discretionary fund.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · available for use at one's... optional elective unrestricted nonmandatory voluntary arbitrary

Opposites

mandatory compulsory obligatory required fixed

Word family

Derived forms discretionarily

Related forms discretion discreet discrete

Etymology

From discretion + -ary; discretion from Latin discretio ('separation, discernment'), from discernere ('to distinguish'), from dis- ('apart') + cernere ('to sift').

discretio Latin cernere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# discretionary

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈskrɛʃəˌnɛri/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪˈskrɛʃənəri/

## Meanings
1. available for use at one's own judgment or choice

## Examples
- Managers may award bonuses from a discretionary fund.

## Synonyms
- optional
- elective
- unrestricted
- nonmandatory
- voluntary
- arbitrary

## Antonyms
- mandatory
- compulsory
- obligatory
- required
- fixed

## Derived Forms
- discretionarily

## Related Forms
- discretion
- discreet
- discrete

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: discretio
- Root: cernere

## Etymology
From discretion + -ary; discretion from Latin discretio ('separation, discernment'), from discernere ('to distinguish'), from dis- ('apart') + cernere ('to sift').

## AI Etymology
Discretionary is from discretion + -ary; discretion from Latin discretio ('separation, discernment'), from discernere ('to distinguish'), from dis- ('apart') + cernere ('to sift'). Important recorded forms include discretio (Latin) and cernere (Latin). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers available for use at one's own judgment or choice. The wider family includes derived forms such as discretionarily and related words such as discretion, discreet, and discrete.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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