speaker

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly

   the leader of the majority party is the Speaker of the House of Representatives

2. 2
   noun

   One who speaks.

   There were three different speakers, but I couldn't make out their accents.

3. 3
   noun

   Loudspeaker.

   She lost her hearing after standing too close to the speaker at the festival.

4. 4
   noun

   Speakerphone.

   you're on speaker

5. 5
   noun

   One who makes a speech to an audience.

   Near-synonyms: orator, presenter, announcer

6. 6
   noun

   The producer of a given utterance, whether speech or text.

   The speaker spelled out the words to be communicated, letter by letter, while the reader's hand read the speaker's message. In its original form the hand alphabet assumed that both speaker and reader could already speak and spell the words ...

7. 7
   noun

   A wooden pole or spike used by hedgers to carry loads on their shoulders. Possibly Dorset dialect.

   With a speäker, or stake, he tossed the outlying scraps of fuel on the into the conflagration.

8. 8
   noun

   electro-acoustic transducer that converts electrical signals into sounds loud enough to be heard at a distance

Etymology

From Middle English speker, spekere, an alteration (with change of suffix) of Old English speca, spreca (“speaker”), from Proto-Germanic *sprekô (“speaker”), equivalent to speak + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Spreeker (“speaker”), West Frisian sprekker (“speaker”), Dutch spreker (“speaker”), German Low German Spreker (“speaker”), German Sprecher (“speaker”).