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discourse - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'discourse' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Discourse [ n.]
- 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.
- Conversation; talk.
- The art and manner of speaking and conversing.
- 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.
- Dealing; transaction.
2 . Discourse [ v. i.]
- To exercise reason; to employ the mind in judging and inferring; to reason.
- 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.
- To relate something; to tell.
- To treat of something in writing and formally.
3 . Discourse [ v. t.]
- To treat of; to expose or set forth in language.
- To utter or give forth; to speak.
- To talk to; to confer with.

Meaning of 'discourse' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . discourse [ n]
Meaning (1):
- an extended communication (often interactive) dealing with some particular topic
Example in sentence:
  • his treatment of the race question is badly biased;
  • the book contains an excellent discussion of modal logic
2 . discourse [ v]
Meaning (2):
- to consider or examine in speech or writing
Example in sentence:
  • The author talks about the different aspects of this question;
  • The class discussed Dante's `Inferno'
Meaning (3):
- talk at length and formally about a topic
Example in sentence:
  • The speaker dissertated about the social politics in 18th century England

Nearby Words:

dis dis- disabilities disability disable disabled disablement disabling disabuse disabused

See 'discourse' also in:

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Related Definitions

  • Discourse analysis
    Discourse analysis is the analysis of verbal or written communication using units longer than a sentence.

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