Etymologically
Log in

discuss

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɪˈskʌs/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English discussen,[2][3][4] from Latin discussus, the past participle of discutere (“to dash to pieces, strike or shake apart”), in Late and Medieval Latin “to discuss, examine, investigate”,[2][3] from dis- (“apart”) and quatere (“to shake”).[2][3][5] Barnhart considers that it may instead be a back-formation from discussion.[3] It is related to quash, concussion and percussion.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To examine, investigate” a matter, or to try it as a judge: 1340 in the OED,[6] the late 14th century in Etymonline[2] and about 1380, in Wycliffe, in Barnhart.[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense in Latin appears to have moved from “to smash apart” to “to scatter, disperse”, then, in post-classical times, through the mental process, to “to investigate” and finally “to debate”.[2][7] In English it also meant “to drive away, disperse” (about 1374),[6] in medicine of humours and tumours (1533),[6] and “to settle as a judge” (about 1381); these senses are obsolete.[6] “To examine by argument, debate”, the usual modern sense, is from the mid-15th century, implied in discussing (1448).[2][3] Johnson defined it as “to examine; to ventilate; to clear by disquisition”.[8]

Timeline

  • 1340 – to examine, try.[6]
  • c. 1374 – to disperse.[6]
  • c. 1381 – to decide as a judge.[6]
  • 1448 – to debate.[3]
  • 1533 – to disperse humours.[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To talk about with others; to debate.
  2. To examine or consider a subject in speech or writing.

Word family

  • discussable
  • discusser
  • overdiscuss
  • prediscuss
  • rediscuss
  • discussant
  • discussion
  • quash
  • concussion
  • percussion
  • rescue

Usage notes

The American Heritage distinguishes discuss, close examination with an exchange of opinions, from argue, debate, dispute and contend.[9]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin