Wordwyrt

digress

/daɪɡˈɹes/digh-GRES
/daɪɡˈɹɛs/digh-GRES

Meaningto step aside

Common meaning: wander off the subject

‘apart, away’ + ‘a step’ → digress

Journey through time

  • di — Latin dis- “apart, away” (path traced)
  • gress — Latin gradus; gradior, gressus “a step; to step, walk” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as digredi.

  1. Latindis- + gradi‘apart, away + a step; to step, walk’source
  2. Latindigredi‘to step aside’source
  3. Latindigressussource
  4. Englishmeaning shiftsto step aside → wander off the subjectdigress‘wander off the subject’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin digredi, which Skeat analyses as dis- ‘apart, away’ + gradi ‘a step; to step, walk’.

Roots

Related words

congressdegradedegreegradualgraduallygradualness

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