Dis*crete" (?), a. [L. discretus, p. p. of discernere. See Discreet.]
1.
Separate; distinct; disjunct.
Sir M. Hale.
2.
Disjunctive; containing a disjunctive or discretive clause; as, "I resign my life, but not my honor," is a discrete proposition.
3. Bot.
Separate; not coalescent; -- said of things usually coalescent.
Discrete movement. See Concrete movement of the voice, under Concrete, a. -- Discrete proportion, proportion where the ratio of the means is different from that of either couplet; as, 3:6::8:16, 3 bearing the same proportion to 6 as 8 does to 16. But 3 is not to 6 as 6 to 8. It is thus opposed to continued or continual proportion; as, 3:6::12:24. -- Discrete quantity, that which must be divided into units, as number, and is opposed to continued quantity, as duration, or extension.
© Webster 1913.
Dis*crete", v. t.
To separate.
[Obs.]
Sir T. Browne.
© Webster 1913.