digress
English
Etymology
From Latin digressum, past participle of digredi.
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: di‧gress
- IPA(key): /daɪˈɡɹɛs/, /dɪˈɡɹɛs/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (AU): (file) - Rhymes: -ɛs
Verb
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- (intransitive) To step or turn aside; to deviate; to swerve; especially, to turn aside from the main subject of attention, or course of argument, in writing or speaking.
- (Can we date this quote by Holland and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Moreover she beginneth to digress in latitude.
- (Can we date this quote by John Locke and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- In the pursuit of an argument there is hardly room to digress into a particular definition as often as a man varies the signification of any term.
- 1959, “In Old Mexico”, Tom Lehrer (music):
- […] For I hadn't had so much fun since the day / my brother's dog Rover / got run over. / (Rover was killed by a Pontiac. And it was done with such grace and artistry that the witnesses awarded the driver both ears and the tail – but I digress.)
- (Can we date this quote by Holland and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- (intransitive) To turn aside from the right path; to transgress; to offend.
- 1623, Template:W, The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, Act 5 Scene 3
- Thy overflow of good converts to bad;
And thy abundant goodness shall excuse
This deadly blot in thy digressing son.
- Thy overflow of good converts to bad;
- 1623, Template:W, The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, Act 5 Scene 3
Usage notes
Often heard in the set phrase But I digress, where the word behaves as a stative verb, whereas it otherwise patterns as a dynamic verb.
Synonyms
- (turn from the course of argument): sidetrack
Related terms
Translations
to deviate
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to transgress
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