discourse

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Verbal exchange, conversation.

   • UUho when he ſhal embrace you in his arms UUil tell how many thouſand men he ſlew. And when you looke for amorous diſcourſe, Will rattle foorth his facts of war and blood: […]
2. 2

   Expression in words, either speech or writing.

3. 3

   A conversation.

4. ›+ 10 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A formal lengthy exposition of some subject, either spoken or written.

      • The preacher gave us a long discourse on duty.
   2. 5

      Any rational expression, reason.

      • Sure 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.
      • difficult, strange, and harsh to the discourses of natural reason
   3. 6

      An institutionalized way of thinking, a social boundary defining what can be said about a…

      An institutionalized way of thinking, a social boundary defining what can be said about a specific topic (after Michel Foucault).

      • 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.
      • 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.
   4. 7

      Lengthy, often heated debate over controversial subject matter, particularly within…

      Lengthy, often heated debate over controversial subject matter, particularly within fandom and activist spaces. Sometimes rendered as a proper noun with the definite article (i.e. "the Discourse").

      • We all know — or know now — the Internet meme known as “The Discourse,” which became popular on the social media site Tumblr in April of last year.
      • Nobody will ever know if Gene Roddenberry would hate DS9 had he lived to see it, but the controversy was patient zero for the arguments that define modern Star Trek discourse.
      • ...needless to say, the small-scale nature of these controversies provides a window into who the true 'snowflakes' are when it comes to Doctor Who discourse.
   5. 8

      Dealing

      Dealing; transaction.

      • Good Captain Bessus, tell us the discourse / Betwixt Tigranes and our king, and how / We got the victory.
   6. 9

      To engage in discussion or conversation

      To engage in discussion or conversation; to converse.

   7. 10

      To write or speak formally and at length.

   8. 11

      To debate.

   9. 12

      To exercise reason

      To exercise reason; to employ the mind in judging and inferring; to reason.

      • While he discours'd on heaven's mysterious The world's original, and nature's cause
   10. 13

       To produce or emit (musical sounds).

       • Hamlet. […] Will you play upon this pipe? […] It is as easy as lying. Govern these ventages with your fingers and thumbs, give it breath with your mouth, and it will discourse most eloquent music.
       • Music discoursed on that melodious instrument, a Jew's harp, keeps the elfin women away from the hunter, because the tongue of the instrument is of steel.
       • Dahl's Silver Cornet Band, augmented for the occasion to the grand total of fourteen pieces, discoursed sweet—well, discoursed music; let us not be too particular as to the quality of it.

The neighborhood

• synonymnormviews of a society
• synonymOverton windowviews of a society
• neighborcourse
• neighbordiscursive
• neighboressay