Pronuntiare

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To formally announce or proclaim something clearly and publicly; to declare or state with authority or emphasis; to pronounce words in a distinct and deliberate manner
2. To make a formal statement or public declaration; to articulate words with clarity and intention; to announce or proclaim officially or emphatically
3. To express or declare something openly and explicitly; to pronounce or utter words in a clear and definite way; to formally proclaim or announce information with confidence

Etymology: A Roman herald's job was to carry a message forth intact, and that image sits inside this Latin verb. "Pronuntiare" combines "pro-", meaning "forth" or "forward," with "nuntiare," "to announce," which comes from "nuntius," "messenger." To pronuntiare was to deliver a message out loud to an audience. Roman orators gave the idea a technical turn. Delivery, the actual speaking of a speech with control of voice and gesture, was one of the recognised parts of rhetoric, and the Latin for it was "pronuntiatio." The sense of formally declaring something before others, rather than merely saying it, was already built into the verb. English later took the idea through Old French, where "pronuncier" meant to utter or declare formally, and the English verb "pronounce" carries that same sense of a deliberate, public statement.

Synonyms: pronounce, declare, announce, articulate, enunciate

Antonyms: mumble, whisper, conceal, withhold, silence