speech

[ speech ]

noun

1. the faculty or power of speaking; oral communication; ability to express one's thoughts and emotions by speech sounds and gesture:

   Losing her speech made her feel isolated from humanity.

   Synonyms: communication, conversation, parley, parlance

2. the act of speaking:

   He expresses himself better in speech than in writing.

3. something that is spoken; an utterance, remark, or declaration:

   We waited for some speech that would indicate her true feelings.

   Synonyms: talk, mention, comment, asseveration, assertion, observation

4. a form of communication in spoken language, made by a speaker before an audience for a given purpose:

   a fiery speech.

   Synonyms: discourse, talk

5. any single utterance of an actor in the course of a play, motion picture, etc.
6. the form of utterance characteristic of a particular people or region; a language or dialect.

   Synonyms: patois, tongue

7. manner of speaking, as of a person:

   Your slovenly speech is holding back your career.

8. a field of study devoted to the theory and practice of oral communication.
9. Archaic. rumor.

speech

/ spiːtʃ /

noun

1. 1. the act or faculty of speaking, esp as possessed by persons

      to have speech with somebody

   2. ( 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. a national or regional language or dialect
6. See parole
   linguistics another word for parole

Other Words From

• self-speech noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of speech¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English speche, Old English spǣc, variant of sprǣc, derivative of sprecan “to speak”; cognate with German Sprache; speak;

Word History and Origins

Origin of speech¹

Old English spēc; related to specan to speak

Synonym Study

Speech, language refer to the means of communication used by people. Speech is the expression of ideas and thoughts by means of articulate vocal sounds, or the faculty of thus expressing ideas and thoughts. Language is a set of conventional signs, not necessarily articulate or even vocal (any set of signs, signals, or symbols that convey meaning, including written words, may be called language): a spoken language. Thus, language is the set of conventions, and speech is the action of putting these to use: He couldn't understand the speech of the natives because it was in a foreign language. 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 usually on a notable occasion, that employs eloquence and studied methods of delivery. A harangue is a violent, informal speech, often addressed to a casually assembled audience, and intended to arouse strong feeling (sometimes to lead to mob action).

Example Sentences

Kids are interacting with Alexas that can record their voice data and influence their speech and social development.

From MIT Technology Review

The attorney general delivered a controversial speech Wednesday.

From Vox

For example, my company, Teknicks, is working with an online K-12 speech and occupational therapy provider.

From Search Engine Watch

Instead, it would give tech companies a powerful incentive to limit Brazilians’ freedom of speech at a time of political unrest.

From MIT Technology Review

However, the president did give a speech in Suresnes, France, the next day during a ceremony hosted by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

From Vox

Those are troubling numbers, for unfettered speech is not incidental to a flourishing society.

From The Daily Beast

There is no such thing as speech so hateful or offensive it somehow “justifies” or “legitimizes” the use of violence.

From The Daily Beast

We need to recover and grow the idea that the proper answer to bad speech is more and better speech.

From The Daily Beast

Tend to your own garden, to quote the great sage of free speech, Voltaire, and invite people to follow your example.

From The Daily Beast

The simple, awful truth is that free speech has never been particularly popular in America.

From The Daily Beast

Alessandro turned a grateful look on Ramona as he translated this speech, so in unison with Indian modes of thought and feeling.

From Project Gutenberg

And so this is why the clever performer cannot reproduce the effect of a speech of Demosthenes or Daniel Webster.

From Project Gutenberg

He said no more in words, but his little blue eyes had an eloquence that left nothing to mere speech.

From Project Gutenberg

After pondering over Mr. Blackbird's speech for a few moments he raised his head.

From Project Gutenberg

Albinia, I have refrained from speech as long as possible; but this is really too much!

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• address
• appeal
• commentary
• debate
• lecture
• paper
• rhetoric
• sermon

More About Speech

What is speech?

Speech is the ability to express thoughts and emotions through vocal sounds and gestures. The act of doing this is also known as speech.

Speech is something only humans are capable of doing and this ability has contributed greatly to humanity’s ability to develop civilization. Speech allows humans to communicate much more complex information than animals are able to.

Almost all animals make sounds or noises with the intent to communicate with each other, such as mating calls and yelps of danger. However, animals aren’t actually talking to each other. That is, they aren’t forming sentences or sharing complicated information. Instead, they are making simple noises that trigger another animal’s natural instincts.

While speech does involve making noises, there is a lot more going on than simple grunts and growls. First, humans’ vocal machinery, such as our lungs, throat, vocal chords, and tongue, allows for a wide range of intricate sounds. Second, the human brain is incredibly complex, allowing humans to process vocal sounds and understand combinations of them as words and oral communication. The human brain is essential for speech. While chimpanzees and other apes have vocal organs similar to humans’, their brains are much less advanced and they are unable to learn speech.

Why is speech important?

The first records of the word speech come from before the year 900. It ultimately comes from the Old English word sprecan, meaning “to speak.” Scientists debate on the exact date that humanity first learned to speak, with estimates ranging from 50,000 to 2 million years ago.

Related to the concept of speech is the idea of language. A language is the collection of symbols, sounds, gestures, and anything else that a group of people use to communicate with each other, such as English, Swahili, and American Sign Language. Speech is actually using those things to orally communicate with someone else.

Did you know … ?

But what about birds that “talk”? Parrots in particular are famous for their ability to say human words and sentences. Birds are incapable of speech. What they are actually doing is learning common sounds that humans make and mimicking them. They don’t actually understand what anything they are repeating actually means.

What are real-life examples of speech?

Speech is essential to human communication.

Dutch is just enough like German that I can read text on signs and screens, but not enough that I can understand speech.

— Clark Smith Cox III (@clarkcox) September 8, 2009

I can make squirrels so excited, I could almost swear they understand human speech!

— Neil Oliver (@thecoastguy) July 20, 2020

What other words are related to speech?

• oral
• vocal
• sound
• communication
• information
• expression
• language

Quiz yourself!

True or False?

Humans are the only animals capable of speech.