as in appendix
a part added at the end of a book or periodical
this biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine contains an interesting excursus on the status of women in the Middle Ages
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Recent Examples of excursus
The literary form which that illumination takes is that of the excursus, the commentary, and the fragment.
—
W. G. Sebald, Harper's Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
Abrahamian’s most riveting excursus tells the story of a Soviet vessel that was launched from a Finnish shipyard in 1975.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
Stylistically, some of the stories occasionally slip into excursus, a tell-don’t-show technique that is handy for unpacking scientific details or philosophical musings but risks sounding like a proof or a succession of lemmas.
—Sheon Han, The New Republic, 23 Feb. 2021
There’s a detailed excursus into the California gubernatorial race of 1934, which Upton Sinclair lost, running on a poverty-fighting platform.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2020
His process involves a series of sketches, long textual excursuses and model-making with his team.
—Nikil Saval, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2020
There are long critical essays, short book reviews, reportage with a literary inflection, histories, missives, diary entries, aphorisms, parables, advice, dreams, a test, fictional excursus and, yes, lists.
—Zachary Fine, WSJ, 30 Aug. 2018
W. G. Sebald, Harper's Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
Abrahamian’s most riveting excursus tells the story of a Soviet vessel that was launched from a Finnish shipyard in 1975.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
Stylistically, some of the stories occasionally slip into excursus, a tell-don’t-show technique that is handy for unpacking scientific details or philosophical musings but risks sounding like a proof or a succession of lemmas.
—Sheon Han, The New Republic, 23 Feb. 2021
There’s a detailed excursus into the California gubernatorial race of 1934, which Upton Sinclair lost, running on a poverty-fighting platform.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2020
His process involves a series of sketches, long textual excursuses and model-making with his team.
—Nikil Saval, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2020
There are long critical essays, short book reviews, reportage with a literary inflection, histories, missives, diary entries, aphorisms, parables, advice, dreams, a test, fictional excursus and, yes, lists.
—Zachary Fine, WSJ, 30 Aug. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Excursus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excursus. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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