Noun

(en noun)

The act of persuading, or trying to do so; the addressing of arguments to someone with the intention of changing their mind or convincing them of a certain point of view, course of action etc.

* 2006 , Rachel Morris, "Borderline Catastrophe", Washington Monthly , vol. 38:10:

With the base unleashed, the White House was unable to broker a compromise, either by persuasion or by pressure.

An argument or other statement intended to influence one's opinions or beliefs; a way of persuading someone.

* 1928 , "The New Pictures", Time , 13 Feb 1928:

Sadie curses, weeps, then, infected by Mr. Hamilton's writhing persuasions , prays and becomes penitent.

A strongly held conviction, opinion or belief.

It is his persuasion that abortion should never be condoned.

One's ability or power to influence someone's opinions or feelings; persuasiveness.

A specified religious adherence, a creed; any school of thought or ideology.

* 2009 , US Catholic (letter), May 2009:

As a convert from the Baptist persuasion more than 40 years ago, I still feel like an outsider in the church despite the kindness and acceptance of Catholic friends.

(colloquial) Any group having a specified characteristic or attribute in common.

* 2010 , "We don't need gay stereotypes", The Guardian , 6 Feb 2010:

Social understanding and equality can neither be nurtured through fear, nor intimidation. Surely this goes for people of all sexual persuasions .

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.