Hypertext Webster Gateway: "discursive"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
discursive
adj 1: (philosophy) proceeding to a conclusion by reason or
argument rather than intuition [syn: {dianoetic}]
2: (of e.g. speech and writing) tending to depart from the main
point or cover a wide range of subjects; "amusingly
digressive with satirical thrusts at women's fashions
among other things"; "a rambling discursive book"; "his
excursive remarks"; "a rambling speech about this and
that" [syn: {digressive}, {excursive}, {rambling}]
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