digress
verb/daɪˈɡɹɛs/ · /dɪˈɡɹɛs/
Etymology From Latin digressum, past participle of digredi.
1
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.
- Moreover she beginneth to digress in latitude.1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:
- 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.1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 3, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:
1 more example
- […] 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.)1959, “In Old Mexico”, Tom Lehrer (music):
2
To turn aside from the right path; to transgress; to offend.
- Thy overflow of good converts to bad; And thy abundant goodness shall excuse This deadly blot in thy digressing son.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act 5, scene 3]:
- Antonyms
- recur
- Derived terms
- digressingly, redigress
- Related terms
- digression, digressive, excursive