digress

From Latin digressum, past participle of digredi.

• Hyphenation: di‧gress
• IPA^(key): /daɪˈɡɹɛs/, /dɪˈɡɹɛs/

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• Rhymes: -ɛs

digress (third-person singular simple present digresses, present participle digressing, simple past and past participle digressed)

1. (intransitive) 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.
   • (Can we date this quote by Holland?)

     Moreover she beginneth to digress in latitude.

   • (Can we date this quote by John Locke?)

     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.

   • 1959, Tom Lehrer (music), “In Old Mexico”:

     […] 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.)

2. (intransitive) To turn aside from the right path; to transgress; to offend.
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, Act 5 Scene 3

     Thy overflow of good converts to bad;
     And thy abundant goodness shall excuse
     This deadly blot in thy digressing son.

• (turn from the course of argument): sidetrack

• digression
• digressive
• excursive