digress

Verb

digress (third-person singular simple present digresses, present participle digressing, simple past and past participle digressed)

1. (intransitive) To step or turn aside; to deviate; to swerve; especially, to turn aside from the main subject of attention, or course of argument, in writing or speaking.
   • Moreover she beginneth to digress in latitude.1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C....
   • In the pursuit of an argument there is hardly room to digress into a particular definition as often as a man varies the signification of any term.1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 3, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   sidetrack, stray, divagate

2. (intransitive) To turn aside from the right path; to transgress; to offend.
   • Thy overflow of good converts to bad;
     And thy abundant goodness shall excuse
     This deadly blot in thy digressing son.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...