DictionaryAI

discussion

noun
di-SKUSH-uhn/dɪˈskʌʃən/

Pluraldiscussions

3 meanings of discussion

Practice

  1. 1
    talknouncountable or uncountable
    Conversation or debate about a particular topic, in which people share and weigh different views.

    The committee held a lengthy discussion before reaching a decision.

    Her remarks sparked a heated discussion among the panelists.

    UsageA discussion about or on a topic, with someone. Set phrases: under discussion, open to discussion.

    Similardebate, conversation, talk, discourse

  2. 2
    written sectionnouncountable
    A passage of text that develops a subject further, examining it in greater detail.

    The paper's discussion interprets the experimental data at length.

    He skipped to the discussion to see what the authors concluded.

    Similaranalysis, commentary, examination, treatment

  3. 3
    nounobsoleteuncountable
    The dispersion of a tumor, causing the swelling to break up and resolve.
    Note

    Older medicine used the word for what a swelling did when it went down by dispersing rather than suppurating, which physicians counted a favorable outcome. The sense is obsolete, so a modern reader meeting it in an old surgical text should not take it as talk about the tumor. It is the same word as the conversational sense, from Latin discutiō by way of Old French, but here it names something that happens in the body.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The obsolete medical sense denotes the dispersion of a swelling rather than conversation about it. en.wiktionary.org
    • Physicians regarded dispersing or dissolving a swelling as a favorable outcome compared with suppuration. en.wikisource.org
    • The medical sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
    • The medical and conversational senses belong to the same word, derived through Old French from Latin discutiō, with Late Latin discussiō as an intermediate form. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of discussion apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

This word comes from Old French discussion, from Late Latin discussiō, from Latin discutiō; it can also be seen as discuss plus the suffix -ion.

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  • The word comes from Old French discussion, from Late Latin discussiō, from Latin discutiō. en.wiktionary.org
  • The word can also be analysed as discuss plus -ion. en.wiktionary.org