What does "speech act" mean?

An act carried out by speech, such as promising, ordering, greeting, warning, inviting and congratulating.

Speech act

Common synonyms include: appropriateness condition, communication act, contextual prerequisite, dibs, human speech, illocutionary act.

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
An act carried out by speech, such as promising, ordering, greeting, warning, inviting and congratulating.
2
the use of language to perform some act wordnet