Discourse

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈdɪskɔː(ɹ)s/

Origin

Middle English discours, from Middle French discours ("conversation, speech"), from Late Latin discursus ("the act of running about"), from Latin discurrō ("run about"), from dis- ("apart") + currō ("run"). Spelling modified by influence of Middle French cours ("course").

Full definition of discourse

Noun

1. (uncountable, archaic) Verbal exchange, conversation.
• 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter XVIIITwo or three of the gentlemen sat near him, and I caught at times scraps of their conversation across the room. At first I could not make much sense of what I heard; for the discourse of Louisa Eshton and Mary Ingram, who sat nearer to me, confused the fragmentary sentences that reached me at intervals.
2. (uncountable) Expression in words, either speech or writing.
• 2012-03, w, Pixels or Perish, Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.
3. (countable) A formal lengthy exposition of some subject, either spoken or written.The preacher gave us a long discourse on duty.
4. (countable) Any rational expression, reason.
• Southdifficult, strange, and harsh to the discourses of natural reason
• ShakespeareSure he that made us with such large discourse,
  Looking before and after, gave us not
  That capability and godlike reason
  To rust in us unused.
5. (social sciences, countable) An institutionalized way of thinking, a social boundary defining what can be said about a specific topic (after Michel Foucault).
• 2007, Christine L. Marran, Poison Woman: Figuring Female Transgression in Modern Japanese Culture (page 137)Furthermore, it should be recalled from the previous chapter that criminological discourse of the 1930s deemed every woman a potential criminal, implicitly including the domestic woman.
• 2008, Jane Anna Gordon, Lewis Gordon, A Companion to African-American Studies (page 308)But equally important to the emergence of uniquely African-American queer discourses is the refusal of African-American movements for liberation to address adequately issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.
6. (obsolete) Dealing; transaction.
• Beaumont and FletcherGood Captain Bessus, tell us the discourse
  Betwixt Tigranes and our king, and how
  We got the victory.

Synonyms

• (expression in words) communication, expression
• (verbal exchange) debate, conversation, discussion, talk
• (formal lengthy exposition of some subject) dissertation, lecture, sermon, study, treatise
• (rational expression) ratiocination

Derived terms

• direct discourse
• indirect discourse

Related terms

• course
• discursive

Verb

1. (intransitive) To engage in discussion or conversation; to converse.
2. (intransitive) To write or speak formally and at length.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To debate.
4. To exercise reason; to employ the mind in judging and inferring; to reason.

Synonyms

• (engage in discussion or conversation) converse, talk
• (write or speak formally and at length)

Derived terms

• discourser