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Editorial Guides For "speak"

Say vs Tell vs Speak vs Talk: Clear Usage Patterns

Use communication verbs correctly with practical examples and grammar patterns.

Speak

//spiːk// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun

1
Language, jargon, or terminology used uniquely in a particular environment or group. uncountable
"corporate speak; IT speak"
2
a low class bar, a speakeasy. dated
3
Speech, conversation. countable
4
Clipping of speaker point. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, informal
"We will deduct speaks for hesitation."

Verb

1
To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud. intransitive
"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."
2
express in speech wordnet
3
To have a conversation. intransitive, reciprocal
"It's been ages since we've spoken."
4
exchange thoughts; talk with wordnet
5
To communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions. broadly
"He spoke of it in his diary."

Show 12 more definitions

6
use language wordnet
7
To deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech. intransitive
"This evening I shall speak on the topic of correct English usage."
8
give a speech to wordnet
9
To be able to communicate in a language. stative, transitive
"He speaks Mandarin fluently."
10
make a characteristic or natural sound wordnet
11
To be able to communicate in a language.; To be able to communicate in the manner of specialists in a field. broadly, stative, transitive
"Even those who did 'speak computer' did so sometimes in a less than fluent way which required a jump to be made from a press-the-right-button stage to having the confidence to experiment."
12
To utter. transitive
"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."
13
To communicate (some fact or feeling); to bespeak, to indicate. transitive
"Their behaviour to each other speaks the most cordial confidence and happiness."
14
To understand (as though it were a language). humorous, informal, sometimes, transitive
"Sorry, I don't speak idiot."
15
To produce a sound; to sound. intransitive
"Make all our trumpets speak."
16
Of a bird, to be able to vocally reproduce words or phrases from a human language.
"Miles tremblingly confessed that it had, but to no purpose; a parrot being able to speak better in three weeks than a brazen head."
17
To address; to accost; to speak to. archaic, transitive
"[He will] thee in hope; he will speak thee fair."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English speken (“to speak”), from Old English specan (“to speak”). This is usually taken to be an irregular alteration of earlier sprecan (“to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan, from Proto-Germanic *sprekaną (“to speak, make a sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *spreg- (“to make a sound, utter, speak”). Finding this proposed loss of r from the stable cluster spr unparalleled, Hill instead sets up a different root, Proto-West Germanic *spekan (“to negotiate”) from Proto-Indo-European *bʰégʾ-e- (“to distribute”) with *s-mobile, which collapsed in meaning with *sprekan ("to speak" < "to crackle, prattle") and so came to be seen as a free variant thereof. Cognates Cognate with West Frisian sprekke, Low German spreken (“to speak”), Dutch spreken (“to speak”), German sprechen (“to speak”), and also with Albanian shpreh (“to utter, voice, express”) through Indo-European.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

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