Other forms: digresses, digressed, digressing
To digress is to wander off the subject while speaking. But I digress, digress from the point, allow me to digress.
But I digress is the standard formula for noticing it and coming back, and it is often used to make the digression sound accidental when it was not. A good lecture digresses on purpose. Note digression; and that the Latin means to step away, from gradi, to step.
1verbdigressTo wander off the subject while speaking.
“Sorry, I'm digressing; let's get back to the budget.”
digress is a wandering off.
Latin digredi is dis plus gradi, to step. Grade, progress and aggression come from the same stepping.
Latin
dīgressum
English, today
digress
From Latin dīgressum. From Latin digressum, past participle of digredi.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA