n.
Pronunciation: ' dis- ˌ ko ̇ rs, dis- '
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English discours, from Medieval Latin & Late Latin discursus; Medieval Latin, argument, from Late Latin, conversation, from Latin, act of running about, from discurrere to run about, from dis- + currere to run ― more at CAR
Date: 14th century
1 archaic : the capacity of orderly thought or procedure : RATIONALITY
2 : verbal interchange of ideas especially : CONVERSATION
3 a : formal and orderly and usually extended expression of thought on a subject b : connected speech or writing c : a linguistic unit (as a conversation or a story) larger than a sentence
4 obsolete : social familiarity
5 : a mode of organizing knowledge, ideas, or experience that is rooted in language and its concrete contexts (as history or institutions) <critical discourse >