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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Discourse \Dis*course"\, noun [L. discursus a running to and fro, discourse, fr. discurrere, discursum, to run to and fro, to discourse; dis- + currere to run: cf. F. discours. See {Course}.]
1. The power of the mind to reason or infer by running, as it were, from one fact or reason to another, and deriving a conclusion; an exercise or act of this power; reasoning; range of reasoning faculty. [Obs.]
Difficult, strange, and harsh to the discourses of natural reason. --South.
Sure he that made us with such large discourse, Looking before and after, gave us not That capability and godlike reason To fust in us unused. --Shak.
2. Conversation; talk.
In their discourses after supper. --Shak.
Filling the head with variety of thoughts, and the mouth with copious discourse. --Locke.
3. The art and manner of speaking and conversing.
Of excellent breeding, admirable discourse. --Shak.
4. Consecutive speech, either written or unwritten, on a given line of thought; speech; treatise; dissertation; sermon, etc.; as, the preacher gave us a long discourse on duty.
5. Dealing; transaction. [Obs.]
Good Captain Bessus, tell us the discourse Betwixt Tigranes and our king, and how We got the victory. --Beau. & Fl.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Discourse \Dis*course"\, verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Discoursed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Discoursing}.]
1. To exercise reason; to employ the mind in judging and inferring; to reason. [Obs.] ''Have sense or can discourse.'' --Dryden.
2. To express one's self in oral discourse; to expose one's views; to talk in a continuous or formal manner; to hold forth; to speak; to converse.
Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear. --Shak.
3. To relate something; to tell. --Shak.
4. To treat of something in writing and formally.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Discourse \Dis*course"\, verb (used with an object)
1. To treat of; to expose or set forth in language. [Obs.]
The life of William Tyndale . . . is sufficiently and at large discoursed in the book. --Foxe.
2. To utter or give forth; to speak.
It will discourse most eloquent music. --Shak.
3. To talk to; to confer with. [Obs.]
I have spoken to my brother, who is the patron, to discourse the minister about it. --Evelyn.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
discourse
noun
1: extended verbal expression in speech or writing
2: an address of a religious nature (usually delivered during a church service) [syn: {sermon}, {preaching}]
3: an extended communication (often interactive) dealing with some particular topic; "the book contains an excellent discussion of modal logic"; "his treatment of the race question is badly biased" [syn: {discussion}, {treatment}]
verb
1: to consider or examine in speech or writing; "The article covered all the different aspects of this question"; "The class discussed Dante's 'Inferno'" [syn: {talk about}, {discuss}]
2: carry on a conversation [syn: {converse}]
3: talk or hold forth formally about a topic; "The speaker dissertated about the social politics in 18th century England" [syn: {dissertate}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
221 Moby Thesaurus words for "discourse": accents, act, address, air, amplify, analyze, argue, article, assignment, bandy words, canvass, causerie, chalk talk, chatter, chew the fat, chew the rag, chin, colloque, colloquial discourse, colloquize, colloquy, comment, comment upon, commentate, commerce with, commune with, communicate, communicate with, communication, communion, confab, confabulate, consider, controvert, conversation, converse, converse with, conversing, criticize, deal with, debate, deduction, deductive reasoning, deliberate, deliberate upon, deliver an address, demonstration, descant, develop, dilate, discourse about, discourse of reason, discourse with, discursive reason, discuss, discussion, dispute, disquisition, dissert, dissertate, dissertation, do, elaborate, elocution, enact, enlarge, essay, etude, examination, examine, exchange, exchange views, excursus, exercise, expand, expatiate, explain, exposit, exposition, expound, feature, first approach, gab, give a talk, give-and-take, go into, handle, harangue, hold forth, homework, homily, impersonate, induction, inductive reasoning, inquire into, instruction, intercourse, interlocution, introductory study, investigate, knock around, language, lecture, lecture-demonstration, lesson, logical thought, lucubration, memoir, monograph, moral, moral lesson, morality, moralization, moralize, morceau, note, object lesson, oral communication, orate, outline, palaver, pandect, paper, paragraph, parole, pass under review, perform, perorate, personate, philosophy, piece, platform, play, playact, point a moral, prattle, preach, preachification, preaching, preachment, prelection, preliminary study, prolegomenon, proof, rap, rapping, ratiocination, rationalism, rationality, rationalization, rationalizing, read a lesson, reason, reason about, reason the point, reasonableness, reasoning, recital, recitation, religious discourse, remark, remark upon, research paper, review, rhetoric, screed, sermon, sermonette, sermonize, set task, shoot the breeze, sift, sketch, skull session, soapbox, sophistry, speak, speak with, speaking, special article, specious reasoning, speech, speechify, study, stump, survey, sweet reason, take counsel with, take the floor, take the stump, take up, talk, talk about, talk of, talk over, talk together, talking, task, teaching, term paper, theme, thesis, thresh out, touch upon, tract, tractate, travelogue, treat, treat of, treatise, treatment, utterance, ventilate, verbal intercourse, verbalization, visit with, voice, words, write up, yakkety-yak, yakking
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |