Discursiveness

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
        [1913 Webster]


  
              The power he [Shakespeare] delights to show is not
              intense, but discursive.              --Hazlitt.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A man rather tacit than discursive.   --Carlyle.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Reasoning; proceeding from one ground to another, as in
        reasoning; argumentative.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Reason is her being,
              Discursive or intuitive.              --Milton.
        -- {Dis*cur"sive*ly}, adv. -- {Dis*cur"sive*ness}, n.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  discursiveness
       n : the quality of being discursive