digression
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French digressiun or disgressiun, from Latin digressio, from digressus + -io (“forming abstract nouns from verbs”), the past passive participle of digredi (“to step away, to digress”), from dis- + gradi (“to step, walk, go”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
digression (countable and uncountable, plural digressions)
- An aside, an act of straying from the main subject in speech or writing.
- The lectures included lengthy digressions on topics ranging from the professor's dog to the meaning of life.
- c. 1374, Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus & Criseyde, i, l. 87:
- 2022 November 21, Barney Ronay, “Iran’s brave and powerful gesture is a small wonder from a World Cup of woe”, in The Guardian[1]:
- History tells us stodgy, cautious stuff, cardigan-football is the way to go here. The 1966 World Cup kicked off with 0-0 draw against Uruguay so tedious the Guardian match report contains a whimsical digression on the writer’s urge to drift off to sleep in the second half.
- (generally uncountable) The act of straying from the main subject in speech or writing, (rhetoric) particularly for rhetorical effect.
- make digression... by way of digression...
- (obsolete) A deviancy, a sin or error, an act of straying from the path of righteousness or a general rule.
- (now rare) A deviation, an act of straying from a path.
- 1670, Charles Cotton translating Guillaume Girard as History of the Life of the Duke of Espernon, Bk. i, Ch. iv, p. 144:
- By this little digression into Gascony, the Duke had an opportunity... to re-inforce himself with some particular Servants of his.
- 1670, Charles Cotton translating Guillaume Girard as History of the Life of the Duke of Espernon, Bk. i, Ch. iv, p. 144:
- (astronomy, physics) An elongation, a deflection or deviation from a mean position or expected path.
- 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Bk. VI, Ch. iv, p. 288:
- This digression [of the Sun] is not equall, but neare the Æquinoxiall intersections, it is right and greater, near the Solstices, more oblique and lesser.
- 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Bk. VI, Ch. iv, p. 288:
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
a departure from the main subject in speech or writing
|
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- “digression, n..”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1896.
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
digression f (plural digressions)
Further reading[edit]
- “digression”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Categories:
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Rhetoric
- English terms with rare senses
- en:Astronomy
- en:Physics
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 3-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns