discursive

English edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Middle French discursif, formed from the stem of Latin discursus and the suffix -if, and in part borrowed from Medieval Latin discursivus.

Pronunciation edit

(UK) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈkɜː(ɹ)sɪv/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)sɪv

Adjective edit

discursive (comparative more discursive, superlative most discursive)

(of speech or writing) Tending to digress from the main point; rambling.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 185:
  This period had long since passed; the discursive reading, the enlightened discourse of her grandfather, had cast her mind in a different mould to the usual superstition of her country; but faith and love were only more pure and perfect in a soul too innocent not to be religious.
- 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page viii:
  This means, at times, long and perhaps overly discursive discussions of other taxa.
(philosophy) Using reason and argument rather than intuition.

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

discourse

Translations edit

tending to digress from the main point; rambling

Bulgarian: безсистемен (bg) (bezsistemen), несвързан (bg) (nesvǎrzan)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 離題／离题 (zh) (lítí), 漫無邊際／漫无边际 (zh)
Finnish: diskursiivinen (fi)
Greek: ασυνάρτητος (el) m (asynártitos), αμετροεπής (el) m or f (ametroepís), πλατειαστικός (el) m (plateiastikós)

using reason and argument rather than intuition

Dutch: redenerend (nl)
Finnish: diskursiivinen (fi)
Greek: διαλογικός (el) m (dialogikós), έλλογος (el) m (éllogos)
Swedish: diskursiv (sv)

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