Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Speech
Speech
,Noun.
[OE.
speche
, AS. sp[GREEK]c
, spr[GREEK]
, fr. specan
, sprecan
, to speak; akin to D. spraak
speech, OHG. sprāhha
, G. sprache
, Sw. spr[GREEK]k
, Dan. sprog
. See Speak
.] 1.
The faculty of uttering articulate sounds or words; the faculty of expressing thoughts by words or articulate sounds; the power of speaking.
There is none comparable to the variety of instructive expressions by
speech
, wherewith man alone is endowed for the communication of his thoughts. Holder.
2.
he act of speaking; that which is spoken; words, as expressing ideas; language; conversation.
☞ Speech is voice modulated by the throat, tongue, lips, etc., the modulation being accomplished by changing the form of the cavity of the mouth and nose through the action of muscles which move their walls.
O goode God! how gentle and how kind
Ye seemed by your
The day that maked was our marriage.
Ye seemed by your
speech
and your visageThe day that maked was our marriage.
Chaucer.
The acts of God . . . to human ears
Can nort without process of
Can nort without process of
speech
be told. Milton.
3.
A particular language, as distinct from others; a tongue; a dialect.
People of a strange
speech
and of an hard language. Ezek. iii. 6.
4.
Talk; mention; common saying.
The duke . . . did of me demand
What was the
Concerning the French journey.
What was the
speech
among the LondonersConcerning the French journey.
Shakespeare
5.
formal discourse in public; oration; harangue.
The constant design of these orators, in all their
speeches
, was to drive some one particular point. Swift.
Speech
,Verb.
I.
& T.
To make a speech; to harangue.
[R.]
Webster 1828 Edition
Speech
SPEECH
, n.1.
The faculty of uttering articulate sounds or words, as in human beings; the faculty of expressing thoughts by words or articulate sounds. Speech was given to man by his Creator for the noblest purposes.2.
Language; words as expressing ideas. The acts of God to human ears cannot without process of speech be told.3.
A particular language, as distinct form others. Ps. 19.4.
That which is spoken; words uttered in connection and expressing thoughts. You smile at my speech.5.
Talk; mention; common saying. The duke did of me demand, what was the speech among the londoners concerning the French journey.6.
Formal discourse in public; oration; harangue. The member has made his first speech in the legislature.7.
Any declaration of thoughts. I, with leave of speech implor'd, repli'd.SPEECH
,Verb.
I.
Definition 2024
Speech
speech
speech
See also: Speech
English
Noun
speech (countable and uncountable, plural speeches)
- (uncountable) The faculty of uttering articulate sounds or words; the ability to speak or to use vocalizations to communicate.
- It was hard to hear the sounds of his speech over the noise. He had a bad speech impediment.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 12, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly, gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion […] such talk had been distressingly out of place.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “chapter XV and XVIII”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:
- I was at liberty to attend to Wilbert, who I could see desired speech with me. [...] As far as Bobbie and I were concerned, silence reigned, this novel twist in the scenario having wiped speech from our lips, as the expression is, but Phyllis continued vocal. [...] For perhaps a quarter of a minute after he had passed from the scene the aged relative stood struggling for utterance. At the end of this period she found speech. “Of all the damn silly fatheaded things!”
- (countable) A session of speaking; a long oral message given publicly usually by one person.
- The candidate made some ambitious promises in his campaign speech.
- Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
- The constant design of these orators, in all their speeches, was to drive some one particular point.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “chapter I and XII”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:
- He's going to present the prizes at Market Snodsbury Grammar School. We've been caught short as usual, and somebody has got to make a speech on ideals and the great world outside to those blasted boys, so he fits in nicely. I believe he's a very fine speaker. His only trouble is that he's stymied unless he has his speech with him and can read it. Calls it referring to his notes. [...] “So that's why he's been going about looking like a dead fish. I suppose Roberta broke the engagement?” “In a speech lasting five minutes without a pause for breath.”
- A style of speaking.
- Her speech was soft and lilting.
- 2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884:
- Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated.
- A dialect or language.
- Bible, Ezekiel iii. 6
- people of a strange speech
- Bible, Ezekiel iii. 6
- Talk; mention; rumour.
- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
- The duke […] did of me demand / What was the speech among the Londoners / Concerning the French journey.
- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Derived terms
Terms derived from speech
Related terms
Translations
vocal communication
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an oration, session of speaking
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Statistics
Most common English words before 1923: allow · spent · soldiers · #877: speech · fast · middle · effort