'discretise' originates from the adjective 'discrete' (from Latin 'discretus') combined with the verb-forming suffix '-ise' (from French '-iser'), meaning 'to make or render discrete.'

'discrete' comes from Latin 'discretus' (past participle of 'discernere'), and English formed the verb 'discretise' by adding the French/English suffix '-ise' (paralleling French 'discrétiser'); an alternative US form 'discretize' arose via the Greek/Latin '-ize' suffix.

Initially related to the idea 'to separate or distinguish,' and over time it came to be used especially in technical and scientific contexts to mean 'to convert continuous entities into discrete ones' (e.g., data discretisation).