discriminantadj.n.

a1656 R. Vines Gods Drawing (1662) 213 Though all grace that is discriminant and differencing is not saving, that I grant; yet all that is saving is discriminant.

1836 Fraser's Mag. 14 411 Taylor's notes are not all so discriminant as this.

1865 J. H. Newman Dream of Gerontius in Month May 423 With a sense So apprehensive and discriminant.

1922 Amer. Cutler Nov. 7/1 It is reported that buyers are more discriminant against cheaper grades of cutlery.

1948 Lancet 27 Nov. 850 The sera studied have been too few for conclusions to be drawn about the relative discriminant value of the alcohol-turbidity and thymol-turbidity tests.

1995 J. L. Deffenbacher in H. Kassinove Anger Disorders ix. 165 The antidote is for these individuals to become more discriminant thinkers and to focus on and limit conclusions.

1870 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 160 61 The onefold relation between the parameters is the discriminant relation of the given k-fold relation.

1898 D. A. Murray Introd. Course Differential Equations (ed. 2) iv. 40 The discriminant is b² − 4ac; the equation b² − 4ac = 0 will be called the discriminant relation.

1929 A. R. Forsyth Treat. Differential Equations (ed. 6) ii. 38 We may thus in general, as a possible solution of the same differential equation, equate to zero the discriminant of f with regard to c.

1943 Amer. Math. Monthly 50 112 The universal method of obtaining the discriminant relation for the conics by a transformation of axes is tedious.

1998 D. Zwillinger Handbk. Differential Equations (ed. 3) 566 In general..the p-discriminant equation will contain the envelope of the solutions, the cusp-locus and the tac-locus squares. The c-discriminant equation will contain the envelope of the solutions, the cusp-locus cubed and the node-locus squared.

2010 L. Debnath Legacy Leonhard Euler ix. 260 These two equations..form a system from which p can be eliminated in many cases so that the resulting equation..can be found to define the p-discriminant locus.

1851 J. J. Sylvester in London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 2 406 Where I denotes the determinant, or, as I shall in future call such function (in order to avoid the obscurity and confusion arising from employing the same word in two different senses), the Discriminant. [Note] ‘Discriminant’, because it affords the discrimen or test for ascertaining whether or not equal factors enter into a function of two variables, or more generally of the existence or otherwise of multiple points in the locus represented..by any algebraical function.

1867 A. Cayley Coll. Math. Papers (1893) VI. 249 The discriminant of this sextic function contains the factor c.

1922 L. E. Dickson First Course Theory Equations x. 153 The discriminant of the product of two functions is equal to the product of their discriminants multiplied by the square of their resultant.

1947 L. M. Kells Elem. Differential Equations (ed. 3) 74 If a family of curves has an envelope and its equation a c-discriminant, the envelope will be a part or all of the graph of the c-discriminant.

1974 tr. ‘N. Bourbaki’ Algebra I iii. 550 The above formula shows..that the discriminants of two bases of A over K differ by the square of an invertible element of K and therefore generate the same (principal) ideal of K.

2008 I. M. Gelfand et al. Discriminants, Resultants, & Multidimensional Determinants Pref. p. ix The place of discriminants in the general theory of hypergeometric functions is similar to the place of quasi-classical approximation in quantum mechanics.

1920 Expositor May 338 The formula ought not to be used as a discriminant between one Gospel and another.

1958 E. Rosenstiel in New Scientist 16 Oct. 1083/2 I should like to suggest the word ‘determinant’ or possibly ‘discriminant’ [for the factors responsible for variance].

1964 Amer. Jrnl. Med. 36 222/1 In several families studied the biochemical abnormality may..provide the only discriminant for identifying the genotype in affected subjects.

1974 Watsonia 10 121 Auquier..disagreed with Kjellqvist's conclusion that F. juncifolia and F. arenaria are synonymous, although he.., like Kjellqvist, found that the leaf-sclerenchyme was not a reliable discriminant.

2004 IMF Staff Papers 51 110 The volatility of GDP p.c. growth is the best discriminant for the volatility of consumption growth.

1938 R. A. Fisher in Ann. Eugenics 8 381 (heading) Extension of discriminant analysis.

1941 Ann. Eugenics 11 65 Discriminant analysis has been used in obtaining appropriate scores for the eye-colour classes.

1994 C. V. Yapi in S. H. B. Lebbie et al. Small Ruminant Res. & Devel. in Afr. v. 215/1 The discriminant analysis showed birth weight (BW), ear length (EL) and tail length (TL) to be traits for differentiating the two breed groups.

2006 Guardian (Nexis) 27 Nov. (G2 section) 34 Who knew generalised diffusion equations, psych percolation theory and linear discriminant analysis could be so thrilling?

1936 R. A. Fisher in Ann. Eugenics 7 179 Discriminant functions. When two or more populations have been measured in several characters…, special interest attaches to certain linear functions of the measurements by which the populations are best discriminated.

1986 S. A. Heffernan Sovereign Risk Anal. ii. 42 Based on the economic information available for each country, this discriminant function is used to assign the country to one of the two populations.

2011 N. Di Mauro et al. in M. Kryszkiewics et al. Found. Intelligent Syst.: 19th Internat. Symp. 245 Note that this discriminant function is linear in x_i, and thus we can write g_j(x) = [etc.].