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Webster 1913 Edition

Speak

Speak

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp.
Spoke
(
Spake
Archaic
);
p. p.
Spoken
(
Spoke
,
Obs. or Colloq.
);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Speaking
.]
[OE.
speken
, AS.
specan
,
sprecan
; akin to OF.ries.
spreka
, D.
spreken
, OS.
spreken
, G.
sprechen
, OHG.
sprehhan
, and perhaps to Skr.
sphūrj
to crackle, to thunder. Cf.
Spark
of fire,
Speech
.]
1.
To utter words or articulate sounds, as human beings; to express thoughts by words;
as, the organs may be so obstructed that a man may not be able to
speak
.
Till at the last
spake
in this manner.
Chaucer.
Speak
, Lord; for thy servant heareth.
1 Sam. iii. 9.
2.
To express opinions; to say; to talk; to converse.
That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set, as the tradesmen
speak
.
Boyle.
An honest man, is able to
speak
for himself, when a knave is not.
Shakespeare
During the century and a half which followed the Conquest, there is, to
speak
strictly, no English history.
Macaulay.
3.
To utter a speech, discourse, or harangue; to adress a public assembly formally.
Many of the nobility made themselves popular by
speaking
in Parliament against those things which were most grateful to his majesty.
Clarendon.
4.
To discourse; to make mention; to tell.
Lycan
speaks
of a part of Caesar’s army that came to him from the Leman Lake.
Addison.
5.
To give sound; to sound.
Make all our trumpets
speak
.
Shakespeare
6.
To convey sentiments, ideas, or intelligence as if by utterance;
as, features that
speak
of self-will
.
Thine eye begins to
speak
.
Shakespeare
To speak of
,
to take account of, to make mention of.
Robynson (More's Utopia).
–
To speak out
,
to speak loudly and distinctly; also, to speak unreservedly.
–
To speak well for
,
to commend; to be favorable to.
–
To speak with
,
to converse with.
“Would you speak with me?”
Shak.
Syn. – To say; tell; talk; converse; discourse; articulate; pronounce; utter.

Speak

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To utter with the mouth; to pronounce; to utter articulately, as human beings.
They sat down with him upn ground seven days and seven nights, and none
spake
a word unto him.
Job. ii. 13.
2.
To utter in a word or words; to say; to tell; to declare orally;
as, to
speak
the truth; to
speak
sense
.
3.
To declare; to proclaim; to publish; to make known; to exhibit; to express in any way.
It is my father;s muste
To
speak
your deeds.
Shakespeare
Speaking
a still good morrow with her eyes.
Tennyson.
And for the heaven's wide circuit, let it
speak

The maker's high magnificence.
Milton.
Report
speaks
you a bonny monk.
Sir W. Scott.
4.
To talk or converse in; to utter or pronounce, as in conversation;
as, to
speak
Latin
.
And French she
spake
full fair and fetisely.
Chaucer.
5.
To address; to accost; to speak to.
[He will] thee in hope; he will
speak
thee fair.
Ecclus. xiii. 6.
each village senior paused to scan
And
speak
the lovely caravan.
Emerson.
To speak a ship
(Naut.)
,
to hail and speak to her captain or commander.

Webster 1828 Edition

Speak

SPEAK

,
Verb.
I.
pret. spoke, [spake, nearly, obs.] pp. spoke, spoken. It is easy to see that the root of this word is allied to that of beak peak, pick.]
1.
To utter words or articulate sounds, as human beings; to express thoughts bywords. Children learn to speak at an early age. The organs may be so obstructed that a man may not be able to speak. Speak, Lord , for thy servant hearth. I Sam. 3.
2.
To utter a speech, discourse or harangue; to utter thoughts in a public assembly. A man may be well informed on a subject, and yet to diffident to speak in public. Many of the nobility make them selves popular by speaking in parliament against those things which were most grateful to his majesty.
3.
To talk; to express opinions; to dispute. An honest man, sir, is able to speak for himself, when the knave is not.
4.
To discourse; to make mention of. Lucan speaks of a part of Cesar's army that came to him from the Leman lake. The Scripture speaks only of those to whom it speaks.
5.
To give sound. Make all your trumpets speak.

Definition 2024

speak

speak

See also: -speak

English

Alternative forms

Verb

speak ‎(third-person singular simple present speaks, present participle speaking, simple past spoke or (archaic) spake, past participle spoken)

David Lynch speaks before a group.
  1. (intransitive) To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 13, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.
    I was so surprised I couldn't speak.
    You're speaking too fast.    ‎
  2. (intransitive) To have a conversation.
    It's been ages since we've spoken.‎
  3. (by extension) To communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions.
    He spoke of it in his diary.
    Speak to me only with your eyes.
    Actions speak louder than words.    ‎
  4. (intransitive) To deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech.
    This evening I shall speak on the topic of correct English usage.‎
  5. (transitive) To be able to communicate in a language.
    He speaks Mandarin fluently.‎
  6. (transitive) To utter.
    • 1611, Authorized King James Version (Bible translation), Jeremiah 9:5:
      And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
    I was so surprised that I couldn't speak a word.‎
  7. (transitive) To communicate (some fact or feeling); to bespeak, to indicate.
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:
      There he sat, his very indifference speaking a nature in which there lurked no civilized hypocrisies and bland deceits.
  8. (informal, transitive, sometimes humorous) To understand (as though it were a language).
    Sorry, I don't speak idiot.
    So you can program in C. But do you speak C++?    ‎
  9. (intransitive) To produce a sound; to sound.
    • Shakespeare
      Make all our trumpets speak.
  10. (transitive, archaic) To address; to accost; to speak to.
    • Bible, Ecclus. xiii. 6
      [He will] thee in hope; he will speak thee fair.
    • Emerson
      Each village senior paused to scan / And speak the lovely caravan.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

speak ‎(countable and uncountable, plural speaks)

  1. language, jargon, or terminology used uniquely in a particular environment or group.
    Corporate speak; IT speak.
  2. Speach, conversation.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

speak ‎(plural speaks)

  1. (dated) a low class bar, a speakeasy.

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: free · return · call · #354: speak · land · why · women

Anagrams

Scots

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [spɪk]
  • (North Northern Scots) IPA(key): [spɛk]

Verb

speak ‎(third-person singular present speaks, present participle speakin, past spak, past participle spoken)

  1. to speak

Derived terms

Etymology

From Middle English speken ‎(“to speak”), from Old English specan ‎(“to speak”), alteration of earlier sprecan ‎(“to speak”), from Proto-Germanic *sprekaną ‎(“to speak, make a sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *spreg- ‎(“to make a sound, utter, speak”). Cognate with West Frisian sprekke, Low German spreken ‎(“to speak”), Dutch spreken ‎(“to speak”), German sprechen ‎(“to speak”), Swedish språk ‎(“language”) and also with Albanian shpreh ‎(“to utter, voice, express”) through Indo-European.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: spēk, IPA(key): /spiːk/
  • Rhymes: -iːk

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