discourse

noun discourses · discours

1. archaic, uncountable 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. uncountable Expression in words, either speech or writing. Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting
3. countable A conversation. It ſeems, the Minds of theſe People are ſo taken up with intenſe Speculations, that they neither can ſpeak, nor attend to the Diſcourſes of others, without being rouzed by ſome external Taction upon the Organs of Speech and Hearing; for which reaſon, thoſe Perſons who are able to afford it always ke
4. countable A formal lengthy exposition of some subject, either spoken or written. The preacher gave us a long discourse on duty.
5. countable 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.
6. countable 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.
7. Internet, uncountable 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.
8. countable, obsolete, uncountable Dealing; transaction. Good Captain Bessus, tell us the discourse / Betwixt Tigranes and our king, and how / We got the victory.

Similar: norm, Overton window

verb discourses · discoursing · discoursed · discours

1. intransitive To engage in discussion or conversation; to converse.
2. intransitive To write or speak formally and at length.
3. obsolete, transitive To debate.
4. 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
5. obsolete, transitive 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.