Say

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /seɪ/

Definitions

1. to express something in words or to state an opinion or fact
2. To pronounce words aloud as a means of communication ; to communicate an idea or information through speech or writing
3. To produce sound or speech with the voice ; to indicate or reveal a particular thought or message

Etymology: The verb "say" is one of the oldest words in English, and its ancestors were ancient. Old English "secgan" (also "sæċġan") meant "to say, speak," and it belongs to a family of cognates that stretches across the Germanic languages: German "sagen," Dutch "zeggen," Swedish "säga," and Icelandic "segja" all mean the same thing. The shared Germanic ancestor traces back to a root meaning "to say," and the wider Indo-European family includes Latin "inquam" and Ancient Greek "ennepō," which also mean "to tell" or "to speak." Something surprising sits in the Celtic branch. Irish "scéal," Welsh "chwedl," and Scottish Gaelic "sgeul" all mean "story" or "tale," not "say." The same root that gave English its verb for speaking gave the Celtic languages their words for narrative, showing how a simple act of speech can grow into a whole body of told material. Over the centuries, "say" also picked up many spellings, including "sain," "seien," "seiȝen," and "sugen," reflecting the shifting pronunciations of Middle English before the modern form settled in.

Synonyms: state, declare, express, utter, voice

Antonyms: silence, conceal, withhold, suppress, refrain