The Latin verb discurrere meant “to walk,” and from this word we get our discursive word, which often means to wander over a wide range of subjects. A discursive style of writing is not usually encouraged by writing teachers. But some of the great writers of the 19th century, such as Charles Lamb and Thomas de Quincey, show that the discursive essay, especially if written with grace and a somewhat personal tone, can be a pleasure to read. And the man often referred to as the inventor of the essay, the great Michel de Montaigne, could address dozens of different topics during a long discursive essay. The discursive faculty then becomes what our Shakespeare readily calls the “discourse of reason”. When people accuse you of wandering from topic to topic in your speech or writing, they may say you have a discursive style — with subject changes that are hard to follow. But that`s okay because unicorns shine. Even a glimpse as small as this must show the astonishing discursiveness of Mr. Lewes` intellect. There was the same discursivity in his lecture as in his sermon, Harry thought; and the same uncomfortable gender agitation.
But the impetus for discursive commentary must be contained, for the picking of flowers distracts attention from comparative botany. In this discursivity of the intellect, he resembled the encyclopedists of the 18th century rather than the men of his time. The proof of these principles is provided by a long and discursive psychological discussion. Buterin, who has given two lectures, has a discursive and often highly theoretical style of conversation that makes it difficult to draw specific, concise theses from his speeches. Now intelligence possesses it through thought, a thought that is not discursive (but intuitive). The adjective discursive is often used to describe a language or writing that tends to deviate from the main point, but the word can also have almost the opposite meaning. Discursive can also be used to describe an argument based on reason rather than intuition: “Her discursive thesis about colonial American women was well argued and well-founded. His teachers were very impressed with his work. The war – which at the moment is a discursive battle, it is above all a war of ideas – is being waged by people who believe that what is good for the country is also good for the people. Questions run through this sometimes wildly discursive novel.
“Conversational intelligence is the constellation of functions and technologies that allow humans and machines to alternately exchange language and work toward a discursive goal,” Bennett says. Who is more discursive than the autocrat, the tsar of the table speakers; And which productions are the most charming or the most intelligent? Sterne`s sentiment and discursivity found several weak imitators. And this feeling disturbed him and reinforced the natural discursivity and incoherence of his speech. borrowed from medieval Latin discursÄ`vus `showing rational, logical thought`, from discursus, past participle of discurrere `span, to discuss` (back in Latin, `to run in different directions, [of a mind or speaker] branch, area) + Latin -Ä`vus -ive â more at the entrance of discourse 1.