speech
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speech
(spēch)n.
1.
a. The faculty or act of speaking.
b. The faculty or act of expressing or describing thoughts, feelings, or perceptions by the articulation of words.
2.
a. What is spoken or expressed, as in conversation; uttered or written words: seditious speech.
b. A talk or public address, or a written copy of this: The senator gave a speech.
3.
a. The language or dialect of a nation or region: American speech.
b. One's manner or style of speaking: the mayor's mumbling speech.
4. The study of oral communication, speech sounds, and vocal physiology.
[Middle English speche, from Old English sprǣc, spǣc.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
speech
(spiːtʃ)n
1. (Linguistics)
a. the act or faculty of speaking, esp as possessed by persons: to have speech with somebody.
b. (as modifier): speech therapy.
2. that which is spoken; utterance
3. a talk or address delivered to an audience
4. a person's characteristic manner of speaking
5. (Linguistics) a national or regional language or dialect
6. (Linguistics) linguistics another word for parole5
[Old English spēc; related to specan to speak]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
speech
(spitʃ)n.
1. the faculty or power of speaking; ability to express one's thoughts and emotions by speech sounds.
2. the act of speaking.
3. something that is spoken; an utterance.
4. a form of communication in spoken language, made by a speaker before an audience.
5. any single utterance of an actor in the course of a play, film, etc.
6. the form of utterance characteristic of a particular people or region; a language or dialect.
7. manner of speaking, as of a person.
8. a field of study devoted to the theory and practice of oral communication.
9. any public form of expression, as spoken or written language, visual depictions, or expressive actions. Compare freedom of speech.
10. Archaic. rumor.
[before 900; Middle English speche, Old English spǣc, variant of sprǣc, derivative of sprecan to speak]
syn: speech, address, oration, harangue are terms for a communication to an audience. speech is the general word, with no implication of kind or length, or whether planned or not. An address is a rather formal, planned speech, appropriate to a particular subject or occasion. An oration is a polished, rhetorical address, given usu. on a notable occasion, that employs eloquence and studied methods of delivery. A harangue is an impassioned, vehement speech intended to arouse strong feeling and sometimes to lead to mob action.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Speech
1. an incorrectness in diction.
2. cacology. — acyrological, adj.
2. cacology. — acyrological, adj.
Medicine. an inability to speak, especially as the result of a brain lesion.
Pathology. an impairment or loss of the faculty of understanding or using spoken or written language. — aphasiac, n. — aphasic, n., adj.
loss of the power of speech; dumbness. — aphonic, — apho-nous, adj.
loss or absence of the power of speech.
the ability to speak in two distinct voices. — biloquist, n.
1. a defectively produced speech.
2. socially unacceptable enunciation.
3. nonconformist pronunciation.
2. socially unacceptable enunciation.
3. nonconformist pronunciation.
the condition of lacking both hearing and speech. Also called surdomutism. — deafmute, n.
Pathology. an inability to express ideas or reasoning in speech because of a mental disorder.
an impaired state of the power of speech or of the ability to comprehend language, caused by injury to the brain.
any neurotic disorder of speech; stammering.
speech problems resulting from damage to or malformation of the speech organs.
the uncontrollable and immediate repetition of sounds and words heard from others. — echolalic, adj.
1. the art of public speaking.
2. the manner or quality of a person’s speech. — elocutionist, n.
2. the manner or quality of a person’s speech. — elocutionist, n.
confused or unintelligible speech; gibberish.
an instrument for recording the movements of the tongue during speech.
an ecstatic, usually unintelligible speech uttered in the worship services of any of several sects stressing emotionality and religious fervor. Also called speaking in tongues. — glossolalist, n.
an abnormal fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak.
a throaty manner of speaking.
a condition in which control of the speech organs is lost, resulting in meaningless and deranged speech.
a tendency to articulate sounds with the lips rounded.
an abnormal love of speech or talking.
the branch of medical science that studies disorders of speech. — lalopathy, n. — lalopathic, adj.
an abnormal fear of speaking.
Pathology. the science that studies speech defects and their treatment. Also logopedics, logopaedics. — logopedie, logopaedic, adj.
a pathological speech problem, as stammering.
Psychiatry. a conscious or unconscious refusal to make verbal responses to questions, present in some mental disorders.
any speech that contains new words unintelligible to a hearer. See also psychology.
Obsolete, loss of speech or the act of keeping silence.
a speech defect or disorder in which sounds are distorted.
a disorder of the faculty of reasoning, characterized by discon-nected and meaningless speech.
aphasia characterized by the inability to find the correct words to express meaning.
garbled or incoherent speech, the result of aphasia.
speaking from the chest, a phenomenon observed with a stethoscope and caused by the voice reverberating in the lung cavities as a result of disease. — pectoriloquial, pectoriloquous, adj.
the condition of stuttering or stammering.
a mechanical, repetitive, and usually meaningless speech.
deafmutism. — surdomute, n.
1. the act or process of whispering.
2. a whispering sound or soft rustling. Also susurrus. — susurrant, susurrous, adj.
2. a whispering sound or soft rustling. Also susurrus. — susurrant, susurrous, adj.
an abnormality of speech characterized by extreme volubility.
repetition of the same sound. — tautophonic, tautophonical, adj.
a stammering and stuttering speech.
ventriloquism.
the art or practice of speaking so that the voice seems not to come from the speaker but from another source, as from a mechanical doll. Also called ventriloquy, ventrilocution, gastriloquism. — ventriloquist, n. — ven-triloquistic, adj.
meaningless repetition of words and phrases.
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
speech
– talkIf you make a speech or give a talk, you speak for a period of time to an audience, usually saying things which you have prepared in advance.
1. 'speech'
A speech is made on a formal occasion, for example at a dinner, wedding, or public meeting.
We listened to an excellent speech by the President.
Mr Macmillan presented the prizes and made a speech on the importance of education.
2. 'talk'
A talk is more informal, and is intended to give information.
Angus Wilson came here and gave a talk last week.
That's what you said in your talk this lunchtime.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  speech - the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience; "he listened to an address on minor Roman poets"body - the central message of a communication; "the body of the message was short" introduction - the first section of a communication close, closing, ending, conclusion, end - the last section of a communication; "in conclusion I want to say..." speech act - the use of language to perform some act allocution - (rhetoric) a formal or authoritative address that advises or exhorts colloquium - an address to an academic meeting or seminar dithyramb - a wildly enthusiastic speech or piece of writing impromptu - an extemporaneous speech or remark; "a witty impromptu must not sound premeditated" inaugural, inaugural address - an address delivered at an inaugural ceremony (especially by a United States president) lecture, public lecture, talk - a speech that is open to the public; "he attended a lecture on telecommunications" litany - any long and tedious address or recital; "the patient recited a litany of complaints"; "a litany of failures" oratory - addressing an audience formally (usually a long and rhetorical address and often pompous); "he loved the sound of his own oratory" oral presentation, public speaking, speechmaking, speaking - delivering an address to a public audience; "people came to see the candidates and hear the speechmaking" |
| 2. |  speech - (language) communication by word of mouth; "his speech was garbled"; "he uttered harsh language"; "he recorded the spoken language of the streets"oral communication, speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, voice communication, language language, linguistic communication - a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols; "he taught foreign languages"; "the language introduced is standard throughout the text"; "the speed with which a program can be executed depends on the language in which it is written" auditory communication - communication that relies on hearing words - the words that are spoken; "I listened to his words very closely" orthoepy, pronunciation - the way a word or a language is customarily spoken; "the pronunciation of Chinese is difficult for foreigners"; "that is the correct pronunciation" conversation - the use of speech for informal exchange of views or ideas or information etc. give-and-take, discussion, word - an exchange of views on some topic; "we had a good discussion"; "we had a word or two about it" locution, saying, expression - a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations; "pardon the expression" non-standard speech - speech that differs from the usual accepted, easily recognizable speech of native adult members of a speech community idiolect - the language or speech of one individual at a particular period in life monologue - a long utterance by one person (especially one that prevents others from participating in the conversation) magic spell, magical spell, charm, spell - a verbal formula believed to have magical force; "he whispered a spell as he moved his hands"; "inscribed around its base is a charm in Balinese" dictation - speech intended for reproduction in writing | |
| 3. | speech - something spoken; "he could hear them uttering merry speeches" utterance, vocalization - the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication | |
| 4. | speech - the exchange of spoken words; "they were perfectly comfortable together without speech" speaking, speech production - the utterance of intelligible speech | |
| 5. |  speech - your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally; "his manner of speaking was quite abrupt"; "her speech was barren of southernisms"; "I detected a slight accent in his speech"expressive style, style - a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; "all the reporters were expected to adopt the style of the newspaper" address - the manner of speaking to another individual; "he failed in his manner of address to the captain" catch - a break or check in the voice (usually a sign of strong emotion) paralanguage, paralinguistic communication - the use of manner of speaking to communicate particular meanings tongue - a manner of speaking; "he spoke with a thick tongue"; "she has a glib tongue" shibboleth - a manner of speaking that is distinctive of a particular group of people tone, tone of voice - the quality of a person's voice; "he began in a conversational tone"; "he spoke in a nervous tone of voice" elocution - an expert manner of speaking involving control of voice and gesture prosody, inflection - the patterns of stress and intonation in a language inflection, modulation - a manner of speaking in which the loudness or pitch or tone of the voice is modified | |
| 6. | speech - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to take the rebuke with a smile on his face" curtain lecture - a private lecture to a husband by his wife | |
| 7. |  speech - words making up the dialogue of a play; "the actor forgot his speech"aside - a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage cue - an actor's line that immediately precedes and serves as a reminder for some action or speech monologue - a (usually long) dramatic speech by a single actor soliloquy - a (usually long) dramatic speech intended to give the illusion of unspoken reflections throwaway - words spoken in a casual way with conscious under-emphasis line - text consisting of a row of words written across a page or computer screen; "the letter consisted of three short lines"; "there are six lines in every stanza" | |
| 8. | speech - the mental faculty or power of vocal communication; "language sets homo sapiens apart from all other animals" lexis - all of the words in a language; all word forms having meaning or grammatical function |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
speech
noun
1. communication, talk, conversation, articulation, discussion, dialogue, intercourse, verbal communication, verbal expression the development of speech in children
2. diction, pronunciation, articulation, delivery, fluency, inflection, intonation, elocution, enunciation His speech became increasingly thick and nasal.
3. language, tongue, utterance, jargon, dialect, idiom, parlance, articulation, diction, lingo (informal), enunciation the way common letter clusters are pronounced in speech
4. talk, address, lecture, discourse, harangue, homily, oration, spiel (informal), disquisition He delivered his speech in French.
Quotations
"A speech is poetry: cadence, rhythm, imagery, sweep! A speech reminds us that words, like children, have the power to make dance the dullest beanbag of a heart" [Peggy Noonan What I Saw at the Revolution]
"A speech is like a love-affair. Any fool can start it, but to end it requires considerable skill" [Lord Mancroft]
"Speech is the small-change of silence" [George Meredith The Ordeal of Richard Feverel]
"Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars" [Gustave Flaubert Madame Bovary]
"A speech is poetry: cadence, rhythm, imagery, sweep! A speech reminds us that words, like children, have the power to make dance the dullest beanbag of a heart" [Peggy Noonan What I Saw at the Revolution]
"A speech is like a love-affair. Any fool can start it, but to end it requires considerable skill" [Lord Mancroft]
"Speech is the small-change of silence" [George Meredith The Ordeal of Richard Feverel]
"Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars" [Gustave Flaubert Madame Bovary]
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
speech
noun1. The faculty, act, or product of speaking:
3. A usually formal oral communication to an audience:
4. A system of terms used by a people sharing a history and culture:
Linguistics: langue.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
حَديث، كَلامخِطابخِطَابطَريقَة الكَلامكَلِمات، ألفاظ
řečzpůsob řečiprojev
talemåde at tale påsprog
kõne
puhepuhekyky
govor
beszédbeszédmód
ávarpmælimálmálfarræða
言葉
말
šnekažado praradimas
runarunāšanavaloda
spôsob reči
govor
tal
การพูด
khả năng nói
speech
[spiːtʃ]A. N
1. (= faculty) → habla f; (= words) → palabras fpl; (= language) → lenguaje m; (= manner of speaking) → lenguaje m, forma f de hablar
to lose the power of speech → perder el habla
to recover one's speech → recobrar el habla, recobrar la palabra
his speech was slurred → arrastraba las palabras, farfullaba al hablar
he expresses himself better in speech than in writing → se expresa mejor hablando or de palabra que por escrito
children's speech → el lenguaje de los niños
freedom of speech → libertad f de expresión
to be slow of speech → hablar lentamente, ser torpe de palabra
to lose the power of speech → perder el habla
to recover one's speech → recobrar el habla, recobrar la palabra
his speech was slurred → arrastraba las palabras, farfullaba al hablar
he expresses himself better in speech than in writing → se expresa mejor hablando or de palabra que por escrito
children's speech → el lenguaje de los niños
freedom of speech → libertad f de expresión
to be slow of speech → hablar lentamente, ser torpe de palabra
2. (= address) → discurso m
to make a speech → pronunciar un discurso
speech, speech! → ¡que hable! ¡que hable!
to make a speech → pronunciar un discurso
speech, speech! → ¡que hable! ¡que hable!
B. CPD speech act N → acto m de habla
speech analysis N → análisis m de la voz
speech command N → comando m vocal
speech community N → comunidad f lingüística
speech day N (Brit) → reparto m de premios
speech defect, speech impediment N → defecto m del habla
speech organ N → órgano m del habla
speech recognition N (Comput) → reconocimiento m de voz
speech synthesizer N → sintetizador m de la voz humana
speech therapist N → logopeda mf
speech therapy N → terapia f de la palabra
speech training N → lecciones fpl de elocución
speech writer N → escritor(a) m/f de discursos, redactor(a) m/f de discursos
speech analysis N → análisis m de la voz
speech command N → comando m vocal
speech community N → comunidad f lingüística
speech day N (Brit) → reparto m de premios
speech defect, speech impediment N → defecto m del habla
speech organ N → órgano m del habla
speech recognition N (Comput) → reconocimiento m de voz
speech synthesizer N → sintetizador m de la voz humana
speech therapist N → logopeda mf
speech therapy N → terapia f de la palabra
speech training N → lecciones fpl de elocución
speech writer N → escritor(a) m/f de discursos, redactor(a) m/f de discursos
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
speech
n
no pl (= faculty of speech) → Sprache f; (= act of speaking) → Sprechen nt; (= manner of speaking) → Sprechweise f; to be slow of speech → langsam sprechen; his speech was very indistinct → er sprach sehr undeutlich; he expresses himself better in speech than in writing → er drückt sich mündlich besser aus als schriftlich; to burst into speech → in einen Redeschwall ausbrechen; to lose/recover the power of speech → die Sprache verlieren/zurückgewinnen; speech is silver, silence is golden (prov) → Reden ist Silber, Schweigen ist Gold (Prov); freedom of speech → Redefreiheit f
(= oration, Theat) → Rede f (→ on, about über +acc); (in court) → Plädoyer nt; to give or make a speech → eine Rede halten; the actor had three speeches → der Schauspieler hat dreimal gesprochen; the chairman invited speeches from the floor → der Vorsitzende forderte das Publikum zu Meinungsäußerungen auf; the speech from the throne → die Thronrede
(US: Sch, Univ: = study of speech) → Sprechkunde f
speech
:speech act
n → Sprechakt m
speech bubble
n (in comic, cartoon) → Sprechblase f
speech community
n → Sprachgemeinschaft f
speech day
n (Brit) → Schulfeier f
speech defect
n → Sprachfehler m
speech
:speechmaking
speech organ
n → Sprechwerkzeug nt
speech pattern
n → Sprechmuster nt
speech recognition
n → Spracherkennung f; speech software → Spracherkennungssoftware f
speech sound
n → Sprachlaut m
speech synthesizer
n → Sprachsynthesizer m
speech therapy
speech writer
n → Ghostwriter(in) m(f) (inf), → Redenschreiber(in) m(f)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
speech
[spiːtʃ] na. (faculty) → parola; (manner of speaking) → parlata, modo di parlare
to lose the power of speech → perdere l'uso della parola
freedom of speech → libertà di parola
to lose the power of speech → perdere l'uso della parola
freedom of speech → libertà di parola
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
speech
(spiːtʃ) noun1. (the act of) saying words, or the ability to say words. Speech is one method of communication between people.
2. the words said. His speech is full of colloquialisms.
3. manner or way of speaking. His speech is very slow.
4. a formal talk given to a meeting etc. parliamentary speeches.
ˈspeechless adjective unable to speak, often because of surprise, shock etc. He looked at her in speechless amazement.
ˈspeechlessly adverbˈspeechlessness noun
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
speech
→ خِطَاب řeč tale Sprechen ομιλία habla puhekyky discours govor discorso 言葉 말 speech tale przemówienie discurso речь tal การพูด konuşma khả năng nói 发言Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
speech
n. habla, lenguaje;
garbled ___ → ___ enredada;
___ defect → defecto del ___;
___ disorder → trastorno del ___;
___ therapy → terapéutica del ___.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
speech
n habla; esophageal — habla esofágica; — development desarrollo del habla; pressured — habla apresurada, presión f del hablaEnglish-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.