digress

Where does the word "digress" come from? It comes from Latin digredi, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

Digress’s story begins in Latin: digredi meant “to step apart, to depart.” To step apart, to depart from a path, from dis- (apart) and gradi (to step). It reached English by 1400s as digress. Settled as the English word for departing from the main topic. Today, digress means to depart temporarily from the main topic in speech or writing.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient digredi "to step apart, to depart", to step apart, to depart from a path, from dis- (apart) and gradi (to step).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1400s digress "to depart temporarily from the main topic", settled as the English word for departing from the main topic.