speech

A2 Topic:Communication

US /spiːt͡ʃ/ See IPA manual

Freq #1772

Meanings

1

noun
A formal talk given to an audience.

The candidate made some bold promises in his campaign speech.
2

noun
The ability to speak, or the act of speaking.

After the stroke, he slowly recovered his speech.
3

noun
The way someone speaks or talks.

It was hard to follow his speech over the noise.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a formal talk given to an... address oration

More locution parlance

Word family

Forms speeches

Derived forms antispeechby-speechco-speechcounterspeechcyberspeechendspeechfurspeechhate-speechmidspeechmisspeechnonspeechprespeech

Related forms speak

Appears in

Phrases (7)

See all

acceptance speech
a speech given when receiving an award or accepting a position

Noun + noun
speech intelligibility
the degree to which spoken words can be understood

Noun + noun
telegraphic speech
brief speech that leaves out less essential words while keeping the main meaning

Adjective + noun
boring speech
a formal talk that fails to hold the audience's interest

Adjective + noun
florid speech
a formal talk expressed in elaborate and excessively decorative language

Adjective + noun
pompous speech
a formal talk delivered in an exaggeratedly grand or self-important way

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Silence is golden
Matching variant: Speech is silver, silence is golden

Simplified etymology

Speech descends from Old English sprēc and is closely related to speak, whose Old English form was sprecan. The r was lost early in the history of both words.

Etymology

From Middle English speche, from Old English spǣċ, sprǣċ (“speech, discourse, language”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku (“speech, language”), from Proto-Indo-European *spereg-, *spreg- (“to make a sound”). Cognate with Dutch spraak (“speech”), German Sprache (“language, speech”). More at speak.

speche Middle English spǣċ Old English *sprāku Proto-West Germanic *spereg- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Communication Register & Style

External links

# speech

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /spiːt͡ʃ/
**Frequency rank:** 1772

## Meanings
1. A formal talk given to an audience.
2. The ability to speak, or the act of speaking.
3. The way someone speaks or talks.

## Examples
- The candidate made some bold promises in his campaign speech.
- After the stroke, he slowly recovered his speech.
- It was hard to follow his speech over the noise.

## Synonyms
- locution
- parlance

## Derived Forms
- antispeech
- by-speech
- co-speech
- counterspeech
- cyberspeech
- endspeech
- furspeech
- hate-speech
- midspeech
- misspeech
- nonspeech
- prespeech

## Related Forms
- speak

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: speche
- Root: spǣċ
- Root: *sprāku
- Root: *spereg-

## Etymology
From Middle English speche, from Old English spǣċ, sprǣċ (“speech, discourse, language”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku (“speech, language”), from Proto-Indo-European *spereg-, *spreg- (“to make a sound”). Cognate with Dutch spraak (“speech”), German Sprache (“language, speech”). More at speak.

## AI Etymology
Speech is from Middle English speche, from Old English spǣċ, sprǣċ (“speech, discourse, language”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku (“speech, language”), from Proto-Indo-European *spereg-, *spreg- (“to make a sound”). Cognate with Dutch spraak (“speech”), German Sprache (“language, speech”). More at speak. Important forms in the word's history include Middle English speche, Old English spǣċ, Proto-West Germanic *sprāku, Proto-Indo-European *spereg-. In current use it includes senses such as A formal talk given to an audience and The ability to speak, or the act of speaking.

## Topics
- Communication
- Register & Style

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