discourse

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Verbal expression in speech or writing.
• noun Verbal exchange or conversation.
• noun A formal, lengthy treatment of a subject, either written or spoken.
• noun Archaic The process or power of reasoning.
• intransitive verb To speak or write formally and at length. synonym: speak.
• intransitive verb To engage in conversation or discussion; converse.
• intransitive verb To narrate or discuss.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A running over a subject in speech; hence, a communication of thoughts by words; expression of ideas; mutual intercourse; talk; conversation.
• noun A running over in the mind of premises and deducing of conclusions; the exercise of, or an act of exercising, the logical or reasoning faculty; hence, the power of reasoning from premises; rationality.
• noun A formal discussion or treatment of a subjeet; a dissertation, treatise, homily, sermon, or the like: as, the discourse of Plutarch on garrulity, of Cicero on old age; an eloquent discourse.
• noun Debate; contention; strife.
• noun Intercourse; dealing; transaction.
• noun That sort of mental operation, performed by one person or by several, in which a line of thought is followed out.
• To hold discourse; communicate thoughts or ideas orally, especially in a formal manner; treat in a set manner; hold forth; expatiate; converse: as, to discourse on the properties of the circle; the preacher discoursed on the nature and effect of faith.
• To treat of or discuss a subject in a formal manner in writing.
• To narrate; give a relation; tell.
• To reason; argue from premises to consequences.
• To treat of; talk over; discuss.
• To utter or give forth.
• To talk or confer with.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun obsolete The power of the mind to reason or infer by running, as it were, from one fact or reason to another, and deriving a conclusion; an exercise or act of this power; reasoning; range of reasoning faculty.
• noun Conversation; talk.
• noun The art and manner of speaking and conversing.
• noun Consecutive speech, either written or unwritten, on a given line of thought; speech; treatise; dissertation; sermon, etc..
• noun obsolete Dealing; transaction.
• intransitive verb obsolete To exercise reason; to employ the mind in judging and inferring; to reason.
• intransitive verb To express one's self in oral discourse; to expose one's views; to talk in a continuous or formal manner; to hold forth; to speak; to converse.
• intransitive verb To relate something; to tell.
• intransitive verb To treat of something in writing and formally.
• transitive verb obsolete To treat of; to expose or set forth in language.
• transitive verb To utter or give forth; to speak.
• transitive verb obsolete To talk to; to confer with.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun uncountable, archaic Verbal exchange, conversation.
• noun uncountable Expression in words, either speech or writing.
• noun countable A formal lengthy exposition of some subject, either spoken or written.
• noun countable Any rational expression, reason.
• noun social sciences, countable An institutionalized way of thinking, a social boundary defining what can be said about a specific topic (after Michel Foucault).
• verb intransitive To engage in discussion or conversation; to converse.
• verb intransitive To write or speak formally and at length.
• verb obsolete (transitive) To debate.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb to consider or examine in speech or writing
• noun extended verbal expression in speech or writing
• verb talk at length and formally about a topic
• noun an address of a religious nature (usually delivered during a church service)
• noun an extended communication (often interactive) dealing with some particular topic
• verb carry on a conversation