[dis.course] n [ME discours, fr. ML & LL discursus; ML, argument, fr. LL, conversation, fr. L, act of running about, fr. discursus, pp. of discurrere to run about, fr. dis- + currere to run--more at car] (14c) 1 archaic: the capacity of orderly thought or procedure: rationality
2: verbal interchange of ideas; esp: conversation 3 a: formal and orderly and usu. 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. obs: social familiarity
[2]dis.course vb dis.coursed ; dis.cours.ing vi (1559) 1: to express oneself esp. in oral discourse
2: talk, converse ~ vt, archaic: to give forth: utter -- dis.cours.er n