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Speaks vs Say - What's the difference?

speaks | say |

As a verb speaks

is (speak).

As a proper noun say is

.

speaks

English

Verb

(head)
  • (speak)

  • speak

    English

    (wikipedia speak)

    Verb

  • To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.
  • * , chapter=13
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=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.}}
  • To have a conversation.
  • (by extension) To communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions.
  • To deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech.
  • To be able to communicate in a language.
  • To utter.
  • * 1611 , (Authorized King James Version) (Bible translation), 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.
  • 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.
  • (informal, transitive, sometimes, humorous) To understand (as though it were a language).
  • To produce a sound; to sound.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Make all our trumpets speak .
  • (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

    * articulate, talk, verbalize

    Derived terms

    * public speaking * speakable * speaker * speakeasy * re-speak * unspeakable phrasal verbs * speak down * speak for * speak out * speak to * speak up idioms * actions speak louder than words * on speaking terms * so to speak * speak for oneself * speak highly of * speak ill of * speak in tongues * speak of the devil * speak one's mind * speak softly and carry a big stick * speak someone's language * speak volumes * speak with one voice * spoken for

    Noun

    (-)
  • language, jargon, or terminology used uniquely in a particular environment or group.
  • Corporate speak; IT speak

    Derived terms

    * artspeak * cyberspeak * doublespeak * lawyerspeak * leetspeak * medspeak * Newspeak * weather speak

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dated) a low class bar, a speakeasy.
  • Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * spake * peaks 1000 English basic words English irregular verbs ----

    say

    English

    (wikipedia say)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) seyen, seien, seggen, &c., from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • To pronounce.
  • To recite.
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.}}
  • To communicate, either verbally or in writing.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
  • , chapter=1 citation , passage=She was like a Beardsley Salome , he had said . And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.}}
  • To indicate in a written form.
  • (impersonal) To have a common expression; (used in singular passive voice or plural active voice to indicate a rumor or well-known fact).
  • * 1815 , :
  • They say that Hope is happiness; But genuine Love must prize the past.
  • * 1819 , Great Britain Court of Chancery, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery , page 8:
  • It is said , a bargain cannot be set aside upon inadequacy only.
  • * 1841 , Christopher Marshall, The Knickerbocker (New-York Monthly Magazine) , page 379:
  • It’s said that fifteen wagon loads of ready-made clothes for the Virginia troops came to, and stay in, town to-night.
  • (informal, imperative) Let's say; used to mark an example, supposition or hypothesis.
  • * 1984 , (Martin Amis), Money: a suicide note?
  • I've followed Selina down the strip, when we're shopping, say , and she strolls on ahead, wearing sawn-off jeans and a wash-withered T-shirt
  • To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • You have said ; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • To this argument we shall soon have said ; for what concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household privacies?
  • .
  • *
  • Synonyms
    * See
    Derived terms
    * dessay * doomsaying * nay-say * saith * sayeth * sayer * saying * there is much to be said * what do you say * you don't say

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One's stated opinion or input into a discussion or decision.
  • * 2004 , Richard Rogers, Information politics on the Web
  • Above all, however, we would like to think that there is more to be decided, after the engines and after the humans have had their says .

    References

    * *

    Etymology 2

    Grammaticalization of the verb. In the case of the conjunction, it could be considered an elision of "Let's say that" and for the "for example" sense of "Let's say"

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (colloquial) (non-gloss definition, Used to gain one's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion)
  • Say , what did you think about the movie?
  • For example; let us assume.
  • Pick a color you think they'd like, say , peach.
    He was driving pretty fast, say , fifty miles per hour.
    Synonyms
    * (used to gain attention) hey

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • (informal) (Used to introduce a hypothetical)
  • Say your family is starving and you don't have any money, is it ok to steal some food?

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) saie, from (etyl) saga, plural of .

    Noun

    (-)
  • A type of fine cloth similar to serge.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.iv:
  • All in a kirtle of discolourd say / He clothed was

    Etymology 4

    Aphetic form of assay.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To try; to assay.
  • (Ben Jonson)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Trial by sample; assay; specimen.
  • * Hooker
  • If those principal works of God be but certain tastes and says , as if were, of that final benefit.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes.
  • Tried quality; temper; proof.
  • * Spenser
  • He found a sword of better say .
  • Essay; trial; attempt.
  • (Ben Jonson)

    Statistics

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