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Discursive - 4 dictionary results

dis⋅cur⋅sive

  [di-skur-siv]
Use Discursive in a Sentence
–adjective
1. passing aimlessly from one subject to another; digressive; rambling.
2. proceeding by reasoning or argument rather than intuition.
Origin:
1590–1600; < ML discursīvus. See discourse, -ive

Related forms:
dis⋅cur⋅sive⋅ly, adverb
dis⋅cur⋅sive⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. wandering, long-winded, prolix.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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dis·cur·sive   (dĭ-skûr'sĭv)   
adj.  
  1. Covering a wide field of subjects; rambling.
  2. Proceeding to a conclusion through reason rather than intuition.

[Medieval Latin discursīvus, from Latin discursus, running about; see discourse.]
dis·cur'sive·ly adv., dis·cur'sive·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Discursive

Dis*cur"sive\, a. [Cf. F. discursif. See Discourse, and cf. Discoursive.]

1. Passing from one thing to another; ranging over a wide field; roving; digressive; desultory. "Discursive notices." --De Quincey.

The power he [Shakespeare] delights to show is not intense, but discursive. --Hazlitt.

A man rather tacit than discursive. --Carlyle.

2. Reasoning; proceeding from one ground to another, as in reasoning; argumentative.

Reason is her being, Discursive or intuitive. --Milton. -- Dis*cur"sive*ly, adv. -- Dis*cur"sive*ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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discursive 
1599, from M.Fr. discursif, from M.L. discursivus, from L. discursus "a running about" (see discourse).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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