discursive

English

Etymology

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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈkɜː(ɹ)sɪv/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)sɪv

Adjective

discursive (comparative more discursive, superlative most discursive)

1. (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.

2. (philosophy) Using reason and argument rather than intuition.

Derived terms

• counterdiscursive
• macrodiscursive

Related terms

• discourse

Translations

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)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Portuguese: ^{(please verify)} discursivo (pt)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} discursivo

See also

• discourse

Anagrams

• viruscides

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

discursive

1. feminine singular of discursif

Latin

Adjective

discursīve

1. vocative masculine singular of discursīvus