Definition

1. Noun:
   • The faculty or act of speaking; oral communication: The human ability to produce and use spoken language for communication.
   • A formal address or discourse delivered to an audience: A spoken expression of thoughts, opinions, or knowledge, often prepared and delivered on a formal occasion.
   • The manner or style of speaking: The characteristic way in which a person speaks, including elements like accent, tone, and diction.
   • Spoken language or conversation: The exchange of spoken words; something that is spoken.
   • The words spoken by a character in a play or narrative: The dialogue or lines assigned to an actor.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Human speech is a complex ability involving the brain and vocal organs.
  • The politician gave a powerful speech on environmental policy.
  • Her speech was clear and articulate, making her easy to understand.
  • They sat in comfortable silence, without the need for speech.
  • The actor memorized all his speeches for the play.

Advanced Usage

• "Figure of speech": A word or phrase used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid effect.
  • "It's raining cats and dogs" is a common figure of speech.
• "Freedom of speech": The right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint.
  • The constitution protects freedom of speech.
• "Direct/Indirect speech": In grammar, a way of reporting what someone said.
  • In direct speech, we use quotation marks: She said, "I am tired."

Variants and Related Words

• Speak (verb): To say something; to talk.
• Speaker (noun): A person who speaks; someone who delivers a speech.
• Speechless (adjective): Temporarily unable to speak, often due to strong emotion.
• Speechify (verb, often humorous): To make a speech, especially in a pompous or lengthy way.

Synonyms

• Address: A formal speech delivered to an audience.
• Oration: A formal and eloquent public speech.
• Talk: An informal speech or conversation.
• Utterance: Something spoken; a spoken word, statement, or vocal sound.
• Diction: The choice and use of words in speech or writing; enunciation.

Related Phrases

• Part of speech (noun phrase): A category to which a word is assigned in accordance with its syntactic functions (e.g., noun, verb, adjective).
  • "Run" can be a verb or a noun, depending on its part of speech in the sentence.
• Speech impediment (noun phrase): A condition that makes it difficult to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently.
  • He worked with a therapist to overcome his speech impediment.
• Speech recognition (noun phrase): The technology that enables a computer to identify and respond to spoken words.
  • Modern phones use speech recognition for voice commands.

Noun

1. the mental faculty or power of vocal communication
   • language sets homo sapiens apart from all other animals
2. words making up the dialogue of a play
   • the actor forgot his speech
3. a lengthy rebuke
   • a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline
   • the teacher gave him a talking to
4. 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
5. the exchange of spoken words
   • they were perfectly comfortable together without speech
6. something spoken
   • he could hear them uttering merry speeches
7. (language) communication by word of mouth
   • his speech was garbled
   • he uttered harsh language
   • he recorded the spoken language of the streets
8. the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience
   • he listened to an address on minor Roman poets