say

A1 Topic:Communication

Also spelled sayin and sez

US /seɪ/ UK /seɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #95

Meanings

1

verb
To speak words; to tell something in speech or writing.

He said he would be here tomorrow.
2

verb
To pronounce a word or sound.

Please say your name slowly and clearly.
3

verb
To show information in a written or printed form.

The sign says it is fifty kilometres to Paris.
4

verb
To suppose something for the sake of argument.

Let us say that they did not tell the truth.
5

noun
The right or chance to give your opinion or influence a decision.

Everyone should have a say in how the money is spent.

Verb forms

say, said, said irregular verb

Thesaurus

Synonyms

4 verb · to suppose something for... suppose

More blather dictate gab report speak state tell utter verbalize voiceyak

Opposites

sign signal write

Word family

Derived forms againsaybesaydare-saydare-sayingdaresay dessaydoomsayingendsayforesayforsaygainsaymissay

Related forms hearsay

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

say grace
to recite a short prayer of thanks before a meal

Verb + noun
say no
to refuse a request, invitation, or proposal

Verb + noun

Idioms (3)

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Proverbs (14)

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Tongue twisters (3)

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A Tutor Who Tooted
A tutor, who tooted a flute, tried to tutor two tooters to toot. Said the two to the tutor: “Is it harder to toot, or tutor two tooters to toot?”

Keep toot, tooted and tooters distinct while maintaining the long vowel. Tutor varies by accent, so it need not begin exactly like toot.
Betty Botter
Betty Botter bought some butter. “But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter; If I put it in my batter, It will make my batter bitter; But a bit of better butter Will but make my batter better.” So she bought a bit of butter Better than the bitter butter, And made her bitter batter better. So it was better Betty Botter Bought a bit of better butter.

Compare the vowels in bit, better, batter and butter while keeping /b/ steady. Use your normal accent for the middle consonant of Betty, ...
Windmills and the Millwheel
To the windmills said the millwheel: “As the wind wills do you still wheel?” “Yes, we still wheel when the wind wills!” To the millwheel said the windmills.

Wind here means moving air and rhymes with pinned. Contrast the vowel in will with the longer vowel in wheel, keeping the final /l/ in both.

Simplified etymology

Say comes from Old English secgan and is Germanic in origin. It is related to Dutch zeggen and German sagen.

Etymology

From Middle English seyen, seien, seggen, from Old English seċġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-h₁-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sekʷ- (“to say”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian sai, seede, sii, sjide, sooi, säie (“to say”), West Frisian sizze (“to say”), Alemannic German ŝchége, ŝchegi, séege, säge, sägä (“to say”), Bavarian sogn, soon, sågn (“to say”), Dutch zeggen (“to say”), German sagen (“to say”), Low German seggen (“to say, tell”), Luxembourgish soen (“to say”), Yiddish זאָגן (zogn, “…

seyen Middle English secgan Old English *saggjan Proto-West Germanic *sagjaną Proto-Germanic *sokʷ-h₁-yé- Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Communication

External links

# say

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /seɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /seɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 95

## Meanings
1. To speak words; to tell something in speech or writing.
2. To pronounce a word or sound.
3. To show information in a written or printed form.
4. To suppose something for the sake of argument.
5. The right or chance to give your opinion or influence a decision.

## Examples
- He said he would be here tomorrow.
- Please say your name slowly and clearly.
- The sign says it is fifty kilometres to Paris.
- Let us say that they did not tell the truth.
- Everyone should have a say in how the money is spent.

## Synonyms
- blather
- dictate
- gab
- report
- speak
- state
- tell
- utter
- verbalize
- voice
- yak

## Antonyms
- sign
- signal
- write

## Derived Forms
- againsay
- besay
- dare-say
- dare-saying
- daresay
- dessay
- doomsaying
- endsay
- foresay
- forsay
- gainsay
- missay

## Related Forms
- hearsay

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: seyen
- Root: secgan
- Root: *saggjan
- Root: *sagjaną
- Root: *sokʷ-h₁-yé-
- Root: *sekʷ-

## Etymology
From Middle English seyen, seien, seggen, from Old English seċġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-h₁-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sekʷ- (“to say”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian sai, seede, sii, sjide, sooi, säie (“to say”), West Frisian sizze (“to say”), Alemannic German ŝchége, ŝchegi, séege, säge, sägä (“to say”), Bavarian sogn, soon, sågn (“to say”), Dutch zeggen (“to say”), German sagen (“to say”), Low German seggen (“to say, tell”), Luxembourgish soen (“to say”), Yiddish זאָגן (zogn, “…

## AI Etymology
Say comes from Middle English seyen, seien, seggen, from Old English seċġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-h₁-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sekʷ- (“to say”). Modern senses include to speak words; to tell something in speech or writing. and to pronounce a word or sound.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as againsay, besay, dare-say, dare-saying, daresay, and dessay and related forms such as hearsay.

## Topics
- Communication

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say

Meanings

Verb forms

Thesaurus

Appears in

Phrases (2)

Idioms (3)

Proverbs (14)

Tongue twisters (3)

Simplified etymology

Etymology

Topics

External links

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