talk

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To say things; to speak to someone.

   We talked for hours about our plans.

2. 2
   noun

   A conversation or exchange of ideas.

   We had a long talk about her future.

3. 3
   noun

   A speech or lecture given to an audience.

   I went to an interesting talk on history.

4. 4
   noun

   Gossip or rumor about someone.

   There has been a lot of talk about the new manager.

5. 5
   verb

   To give away secret or private information.

   The police were afraid the witness would talk.

Multiword verbs with talk

• talk over Phrasal verb A1

  to discuss something carefully before reaching a decision

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Talk entered English in the Middle English period and comes from the same historical root as tale, an Old English word, and tell.

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…

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary