talk

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of giving a talk to an audience

   I attended an interesting talk on local history

2. 2
   noun

   an exchange of ideas via conversation

   let's have more work and less talk around here

3. 3
   noun

   discussion

   (`talk about' is a less formal alternative for `discussion of')

4. 4
   noun

   idle gossip or rumor

   there has been talk about you lately

5. 5
   verb

   to deliver a lecture or talk

   They will talk at Rutgers next week.

6. 6
   verb

   divulge confidential information or secrets

   The gossipy co-workers love to talk.

7. 7
   verb

   express in speech

   They talk a lot of nonsense.

8. 8
   verb

   reveal information

   If you don't oblige me, I'll talk!

Etymology

From Middle English talken, talkien, from Old English *tealcian (“to talk, chat”), from Proto-West Germanic *talkōn, from Proto-Germanic *talkōną (“to talk, chatter”), frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *talōną (“to count, recount, tell”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol-, *del- (“to aim, calculate, adjust, count”), equivalent to tell + -k. Cognate with Scots talk (“to talk”), Low German taalken (“to talk”). Related also to Danish tale (“to talk, speak”), Swedish tala (“to talk, speak, say, chatter”), Icelandic tala (“to talk”), Norwegian tale (“speech”), Old English talian (“to count, calcula…