This paper explores how historicity affects the validity of certain modern metaterms that are received as ‘neutral’ and ‘scientific’ in pragmatics. It is is argued fundamental to examine their history, development and historically situated meanings. As a case study, it is shown that the use of the Italian equivalent of the studied ‘discernment’ term (discernere) in historical Italian metadiscourses, which likely affected historical English comprehension of ‘discernment’ too, challenges the modern practice of this metaterm.