This is the 9840th most frequent Japanese word.
見極める
"To ascertain" or "to discern."
The word 見極める is used to mean 'to ascertain' or 'to thoroughly assess and understand' the situation in order to make judgments.
適切な判断をするためには、状況を見極める必要があります。
To make appropriate decisions, it is necessary to ascertain the situation.
Here, 見極める is utilized to denote 'assessing' someone's abilities clearly before making a decision.
彼の能力を見極めて、適切な役割を与えました。
Having assessed his abilities, an appropriate role was assigned to him.
In this sentence, 見極める is employed to express 'determining or evaluating' trends thoroughly to achieve goals.