“Speak.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/speak. To communicate (some fact or feeling); to bespeak, to indicate. "This depressed patient does not verbalize", "The chairman addressed the board of trustees". "Sorry, I don't speak idiot." The verbs speak and talk both generally mean ‘say words’, but there are some small differences in how they are used. before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a, Middle English speken, from Old English sprecan, specan; akin to Old High German sprehhan to speak, Greek spharageisthai to crackle. ", "I was so surprised that I couldn't speak a word.". To talk or converse in; to utter or pronounce, as in conversation; as, to speak Latin. converse is used for the exchange of thoughts and opinions. What made you want to look up speak? Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! How to use speak in a sentence. Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words? See more. Speak (noun) To convey sentiments, ideas, or intelligence as if by utterance; as, features that speak of self-will. To communicate (some fact or feeling); to bespeak, to indicate. For the film, Ms. Speek won first prize for a documentary short at the 2000 Balticum Film Festival in Denmark and the Best Documentary Award at the 2000 Blue Sea Film Festival in Finland. Send us feedback. She is best known for her award-winning documentary titled Metskuninganna. Speak definition is - to utter words or articulate sounds with the ordinary voice : talk. Released in 1999, it is a 28-minute documentary about a woman who lives alone in an Estonian forest with her dogs. We've detected that you are using AdBlock Plus or some other adblocking software which is preventing the page from fully loading. In … "This evening I shall speak on the topic of correct English usage. Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way. Here is the first sense for “to speak with ━━ ”: To converse with, talk to; to consult or confer with. The only difference is that speak is more formal than talk. Speakable is a derivative of speech. serve as evidence for something, "everything in the house spoke of hard times and neglect", show (someone or something) to be in a particular state or to possess a certain quality, "she had seen nothing that spoke him of immoral habits", (of a musical instrument or other object) make a sound when functioning, "insufficient air circulates for the pipes to speak". speak, talk, and converse mean to express in words. See Wiktionary Terms of Use for details. We don't have any banner, Flash, animation, obnoxious sound, or popup ad. speak is used of anything said, whether it is understood or not and whether it is heard or not. Speak (verb) To understand (as though it were a language). To deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech. To deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech. Translated, this title means "Forest Queen." "So you can program in C. But do you speak C++?" language, jargon, or terminology used uniquely in a particular environment or group. language, jargon, or terminology used uniquely in a particular environment or group. Please add askdifference.com to your ad blocking whitelist or disable your adblocking software. Speak (verb) To address; to accost; to speak to. Speak (verb) To produce a sound; to sound. used to form especially nonce words denoting a particular kind of jargon, When I said you were my best friend, I was, The film feels too drawn out, however, during what amounts to its extended climactic sequence, in which she is invited to, But after declining to endorse Trump during his speech to party delegates in Cleveland four years ago, Cruz was not invited to, Agastya received $500 for being a top finalist, and also won the Broadcom Leadership Award, given to the finalist chosen by peers to, Ms Thunberg had become the face of this movement and was invited to, Other executives from the financial industry are slated to, People danced on a hot, blue-sky afternoon in the parking lot at Morehouse College in Atlanta while waiting for Harris to, used to form words that refer to the special languages or words used for particular activities or by particular groups. To declare; to proclaim; to publish; to make known; to exhibit; to express in any way. To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud. (by extension) To communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions. Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud. Knowing the difference between speak and talk becomes important due to the fact that speak and talk are two verbs that are easily confused in usage. speak - two or more people speaks - one person There is a group of people that speak English. "So you can program in C. But do you speak C++?". We didn't know what language they were speaking. 'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'. Delivered to your inbox! These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'speak.' To communicate (some fact or feeling); to bespeak, to indicate. To understand (as though it were a language). We talked about school. There is only one person who speaks English. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. For example, talking to a friend is casual while speaking with your students is more formal and informative. To utter in a word or words; to say; to tell; to declare orally; as, to speak the truth; to speak sense. English Language Learners Definition of -speak (Entry 2 of 2), See the full definition for -speak in the English Language Learners Dictionary. We do not implement these annoying types of ads! Speak is only used a verb. To utter words or articulate sounds, as human beings; to express thoughts by words; as, the organs may be so obstructed that a man may not be able to speak. They are, in fact, characterized by different usages though. We need money to operate the site, and almost all of it comes from our online advertising. Accessed 25 Nov. 2020. (informal, transitive, sometimes, humorous) To understand (as though it were a language). say something in order to convey information or to express a feeling, "in his agitation he was unable to speak", "she refused to speak about the incident", "last time we spoke, you told me you couldn't do the job", "patients copy words spoken by the therapist", communicate in or be able to communicate in (a specified language), "twenty thousand people attended to hear him speak", express the views or position of (another), "he claimed to speak for the majority of local people", convey one's views or position indirectly, "speaking through his solicitor, he refused to join the debate", answer (a question) or address (an issue or problem), "we should be disappointed if the report did not speak to the issue of literacy", "she tried to speak to Seb about his drinking", talk to in order to give or obtain information, "the Church wants to speak to real issues", (of behaviour, an object, etc.) The OED makes does not call out either of the two phrasal verbs “to speak with ━━ ” or “ to speak to ━━ ” as being more commonly seen in Britain vs elsewhere. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply. To utter a speech, discourse, or harangue; to adress a public assembly formally. (informal, transitive, sometimes, humorous) To understand (as though it were a language). Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible). Learn a new word every day. The scientists conversed about traveling in space. * 1851 , ( Herman Melville ), (Moby-Dick) : There he sat, his very indifference speaking a nature in which there lurked no civilized hypocrisies and bland deceits. Further, talking is more like striking a conversation (2 ways) while speaking comes from the noun speech… To communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions.