discourse
Americannoun
-
discourses
plural
-
communication of thought by words; talk; conversation.
earnest and intelligent discourse.
- Synonyms:
- parley, chat, dialogue, colloquy, discussion
-
a formal discussion of a subject in speech or writing, as a dissertation, treatise, sermon, etc.
-
Linguistics. any unit of connected speech or writing longer than a sentence.
verb (used without object)
-
discourses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
discoursed,
past participle, past
-
discoursing
present participle
-
to communicate thoughts orally; talk; converse.
-
to treat of a subject formally in speech or writing.
verb (used with object)
-
discourses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
discoursed,
past participle, past
-
discoursing
present participle
noun
-
verbal communication; talk; conversation
-
a formal treatment of a subject in speech or writing, such as a sermon or dissertation
-
a unit of text used by linguists for the analysis of linguistic phenomena that range over more than one sentence
-
archaic the ability to reason or the reasoning process
verb
-
(intr; often foll by on or upon) to speak or write (about) formally and extensively
-
(intr) to hold a discussion
-
archaic (tr) to give forth (music)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
discoursesimple
-
discoursessimple
-
have discoursedperfect
-
has discoursedperfect
-
am discoursingprogressive
-
are discoursingprogressive
-
is discoursingprogressive
-
have been discoursingperfect progressive
-
has been discoursingperfect progressive
Past
-
discoursedsimple
-
had discoursedperfect
-
was discoursingprogressive
-
were discoursingprogressive
-
had been discoursingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of discourse
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English discours, from Medieval Latin discursus (spelling by influence of Middle English cours “course”), Late Latin: “conversation,” Latin: “a run back and forth,” noun use of past participle of discurrere “to run about,” from dis- dis- 1 + currere “to run”
Explanation
If you use the word discourse, you are describing a formal and intense discussion or debate. The noun discourse comes from the Latin discursus to mean "an argument." But luckily, that kind of argument does not mean people fighting or coming to blows. The argument in discourse refers to an exchange of ideas — sometimes heated — that often follows a kind of order and give-and-take between the participants. It's the kind of argument and discussion that teachers love, so discourse away!
Vocabulary lists containing discourse
Othello
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Rhetoric
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Grade 11, List 3
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"It is surprising that the discourse from many developing AI is so filled with doom," he writes.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The discourse around these celebrities shouldn’t center, for instance, on whatever message their body image might be sending to young people who look up to them.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
In terms of the quickfire, I will say, there’s been a lot of discourse online.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The discourse around celebrity weight loss misses the point: The hardest conversations are the ones we owe to the people right next to us.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
My intention was to give younger people a context for the hate surfacing in the news and in political discourse and to give them a reason to hope.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
In this way, the parallels and connections between European and non-Western antiliberal discourses are neatly illustrated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
The groups - known as akharas - have set up sprawling camps which have been a hive of activity, with tens of thousands of pilgrims visiting to hear religious discourses or attend evening prayers.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2025
Or, instead, could former President Trump’s extended discourses demonstrate his genius — an ability, as he says, to “weave” disparate stories into a beautiful tapestry?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024
As the self-promoting overseer of X, he holds outsize influence over the countries whose political and electoral discourses still—for persistent lack of better alternatives—center on the text-based platform once known to them as Twitter.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2024
His published discourses on the physics of music and on the proper use of dissonance - deliberately clashing discords of various kinds - influenced many, if not all, Italian composers of the seventeenth century.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
On Wednesday, Ono discoursed on group theory and theorems of Lagrange and Fermat as students watched him sketch, with a sure and rapid hand, the symbols of high-level math.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 27, 2020
Our guide, young but practiced in the art of distracting cold tourists, poured hot berry juice and discoursed on Arctic matters.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 22, 2019
He discoursed on the supremacy of brown antlers — which are fresh with blood — to white ones.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2018
According to the film historian Kevin Brownlow, the crew sometimes took the film out of the camera and continued to crank as Tree discoursed, so as not to waste precious feet of celluloid.
From Slate ● Dec. 4, 2015
Some time after this man left him, Captain Loe turned out, and, passing the usual compliments, sent for some rum, and discoursed on many indifferent subjects.
From The Monarchs of the Main, Volume III (of 3) Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers by Walter Thornbury
Deploying broad historical knowledge and a keen comparative eye, he does an enormous amount of discoursing around the premise that “the clothes we wear today are anachronistic, irrational and harmful.”
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 11, 2019
His image should be what politicians and elected officials envision before they begin discoursing about what can we do, what must we do, to ensure this does not happen again.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 19, 2018
"That's like a field trip to heaven," says Mara, who seconds earlier was discoursing on the debilitating effects of screen life.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2018
Directed by Matt Bassett, “The Typographer’s Dream” features three eccentric experts discoursing on the wonders, and occasionally the frustrations, of their chosen disciplines.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 14, 2015
The old warrior, with his shining bald head and huge hands, looked as if he would prefer battle to discoursing in council.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
