Noun

(uncountable, archaic) Verbal exchange, conversation.

* 1847 , , (Jane Eyre), Chapter XVIII

Two or three of the gentlemen sat near him, and I caught at times scraps of their conversation across the room. At first I could not make much sense of what I heard; for the discourse of Louisa Eshton and Mary Ingram, who sat nearer to me, confused the fragmentary sentences that reached me at intervals.

(uncountable) Expression in words, either speech or writing.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03

, author= , title=Pixels or Perish , volume=100, issue=2, page=106 , magazine= citation , passage=Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse . Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.}}

(countable) A formal lengthy exposition of some subject, either spoken or written.

The preacher gave us a long discourse on duty.

(countable) Any rational expression, reason.

* South

difficult, strange, and harsh to the discourses of natural reason

* Shakespeare

Sure he that made us with such large discourse , / Looking before and after, gave us not / That capability and godlike reason / To rust in us unused.

(social sciences, countable) An institutionalized way of thinking, a social boundary defining what can be said about a specific topic (after ).

* 2007 , Christine L. Marran, Poison Woman: Figuring Female Transgression in Modern Japanese Culture (page 137)

Furthermore, it should be recalled from the previous chapter that criminological discourse of the 1930s deemed every woman a potential criminal, implicitly including the domestic woman.

* 2008 , Jane Anna Gordon, Lewis Gordon, A Companion to African-American Studies (page 308)

But equally important to the emergence of uniquely African-American queer discourses is the refusal of African-American movements for liberation to address adequately issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.

(obsolete) Dealing; transaction.

* Beaumont and Fletcher

Good Captain Bessus, tell us the discourse / Betwixt Tigranes and our king, and how / We got the victory.

Noun

(wikipedia communication) (en noun)

The act or fact of communicating anything; transmission.

communication of smallpox

communication of a secret

(uncountable) The concept or state of exchanging data or information between entities.

Some say that communication is a necessary prerequisite for sentience; others say that it is a result thereof.

The node had established communication with the network, but had as yet sent no data.

A message; the essential data transferred in an act of communication.

Surveillance was accomplished by means of intercepting the spies' communications .

The body of all data transferred to one or both parties during an act of communication.

The subpoena required that the company document their communication with the plaintiff.

An instance of information transfer; a conversation or discourse.

The professors' communications consisted of lively discussions via email.

* Shakespeare

Argument and friendly communication .

A passageway or opening between two locations; connection.

A round archway at the far end of the hallway provided communication to the main chamber.

* Arbuthnot

The Euxine Sea is conveniently situated for trade, by the communication it has both with Asia and Europe.

(anatomy) A connection between two tissues, organs, or cavities.

* 1855, William Stokes, The Diseases of the Heart and the Aorta Page 617

...and here a free communication had been established between the aorta and the vena cava.

(obsolete) association; company

* Bible, 1 Corinthians xv. 33

Evil communications corrupt manners.

Participation in the Lord's supper.

(Bishop Pearson)

(rhetoric) A trope by which a speaker assumes that his hearer is a partner in his sentiments, and says "we" instead of "I" or "you".

(Beattie)