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How to say pattern recognizer/analyzer or describe someone who can differentiate patterns?

The closest thing that I could find was homo analyticus. Are there any better descriptors available? Homo Discriminaticus sounds nice but obviously gibberish, Google Translate is of no help either.

Context: I'm not being facetious, this is for a serious project. The term Discrimination is a positive term as in being able to differentiate between things/events.

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  • I thought this was a different question from the newer one. If they are the same, they should be marked duplicate, not deleted. I was just about to give a different answer to the other question... Are the two questions about the same thing?
    – Joonas Ilmavirta
    Nov 10, 2017 at 15:08
  • I took the liberty to add more context from the other question. Feel free to re-edit.
    – Joonas Ilmavirta
    Nov 10, 2017 at 15:20

1 Answer 1

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The Greek word ἀνάλυσις is a reasonable word for "analysis" or "recognition". It means roughly "understanding by pulling apart", whereas the opposite σύνθεσις is more about combining. The derived adjective ἀναλυτικός means "analytical", and it can be borrowed to Latin as analyticus. This appears not to be attested in classical Latin, but it is a loan that would have been understandable to any Roman familiar with the Greek word ἀνάλυσις. Therefore homo analyticus is a good choice, and I suggest going with that. It has the benefit of being easily understandable to a number of people that lack classical education.

However, this expression comes across to me as somewhat humorous, and I would not use it in a serious context. If you want something more serious, I am not convinced that homo and an adjective is a good choice. Much depends on the broader context. What language is the text in? What is the field of study and what people are described with the desired term?

There is a good Latin verb diiudicare (or dijudicare, depending on how you prefer to spell) for distinguishing. The most natural choice seems to be diiudicator, a "distinguisher". See the linked dictionary entry to see whether the verb means the kind of activity you had in mind.

Judging by your newer (now deleted) question with some more context, I have the impression that you are looking for something more serious. Whether either of my two suggestions works depends on the exact context. In the future, when you make word requests or ask for short translations, please give context and explain carefully. It is really important.

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    Thank you for the lightning fast answer and for sharing a link to dictionary. Distinguisher vs Analyst direct vs implied ability to differentiate/discriminate.
    – lrn2code
    Nov 10, 2017 at 15:43

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