English Explanatory Dictionary

speech

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The ability to speak; the faculty of uttering words or articulate sounds and vocalizations to communicate.
  2. The act of speaking, a certain style of it.
  3. A formal session of speaking, especially a long oral message given publicly by one person.
  4. A dialect, vernacular, or (dated) a language.
  5. Language used orally, rather than in writing.
  6. An utterance that is quoted; see direct speech, reported speech
  7. Public talk, news, gossip, rumour.
verb
  1. To make (a speech); to harangue.

Pronunciation

/spiːt͡ʃ/ en-us-speech.ogg /spɛːt͡ʃ/

Word forms

speech speeches speach speeching speeched

Etymology

From Middle English speche, from Old English spǣċ, sprǣċ (“speech, discourse, language”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku (“speech, language”), from Proto-Indo-European *spereg-, *spreg- (“to make a sound”). Cognate with Dutch spraak (“speech”), German Sprache (“language, speech”). More at speak.

Synonyms

locution parlance speech address allocution monologue oration soliloquy language leid lingo tongue

Related words

speak

Derived words

acceptance speech antispeech audio-visual speech recognition avoidance speech by-speech caretaker speech child-directed speech compelled speech co-speech counterspeech cyberspeech endspeech figure of speech finger speech free as in speech freedom of speech free indirect speech free speech free speech zone furspeech hate-speech hate speech helium speech impulsive speech indirect speech keynote speech King's speech liberty of speech maiden speech midspeech misspeech nonspeech oblique speech opening speech part of speech plain speech prespeech pressure of speech protospeech Queen's speech running speech second-hand speech speech act speech balloon speech-based picking speech bubble speech community speechcraft speech-crier speech day speech disfluency speech disorder speecher speech fright speechfright speech from the throne speechful speechie speechification speechify

Translations

Afrikaans: spraakstyl Azerbaijani: danışıq Finnish: puhe Hungarian: beszéd Māori: mita
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