Digresses

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To temporarily stray from the central subject in speech or writing
2. To move away briefly from the main point to discuss something else
3. To wander from the original topic or focus during communication

Etymology: "Digresses" is the third-person singular of "digress," and the verb descends from the Latin "digredi," meaning to step or walk away, built from "dis-" (apart, away) and "gradi" (to step). The Latin past participle "digressum" carried that literal sense of stepping aside from a path into English, where it kept the idea of leaving the main road behind. That physical picture is still present in the modern sense. To digress is to wander off the central route of a speech or piece of writing, then return to it. The word therefore moves from walking away from a path to straying from a subject, with the same movement applied to thought rather than feet. The same Latin stem "gradi" lies behind words such as "grade," "progress," and "degree," all of which share the idea of stepping forward, across, or down.

Synonyms: diverges, meanders, strays, wanders, deviates

Antonyms: focuses, concentrates, remains, sticks, persists