n. | 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. |
2. | Conversation; talk. | |
3. | The art and manner of speaking and conversing. | |
4. | Consecutive speech, either written or unwritten, on a given line of thought; speech; treatise; dissertation; sermon, etc.; | |
5. | Dealing; transaction. | |
v. i. | 1. | To exercise reason; to employ the mind in judging and inferring; to reason. |
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. | |
3. | To relate something; to tell. | |
4. | To treat of something in writing and formally. | |
v. t. | 1. | To treat of; to expose or set forth in language. |
2. | To utter or give forth; to speak. | |
3. | To talk to; to confer with. |
Noun | 1. | discourse - extended verbal expression in speech or writing |
2. | ![]() | |
3. | discourse - 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" Synonyms: discussion, treatment | |
Verb | 1. | discourse - to consider or examine in speech or writing; "The article covered all the different aspects of this question"; "The class discussed Dante's `Inferno'" Synonyms: discuss, talk about |
2. | discourse - carry on a conversation Synonyms: converse | |
3. | discourse - talk or hold forth formally about a topic; "The speaker dissertated about the social politics in 18th century England" Synonyms: dissertate |