speech

[speech] /spitʃ/
noun
1.
the faculty or power of speaking; oral communication; ability to express one's thoughts and emotions by speech sounds and gesture:
Losing her speech made her feel isolated from humanity.
2.
the act of speaking:
He expresses himself better in speech than in writing.
3.
something that is spoken; an utterance, remark, or declaration:
We waited for some speech that would indicate her true feelings.
4.
a form of communication in spoken language, made by a speaker before an audience for a given purpose:
a fiery speech.
5.
any single utterance of an actor in the course of a play, motion picture, etc.
6.
the form of utterance characteristic of a particular people or region; a language or dialect.
7.
manner of speaking, as of a person:
Your slovenly speech is holding back your career.
8.
a field of study devoted to the theory and practice of oral communication.
9.
Archaic. rumor.
Origin
before 900; Middle English speche, Old English spǣc, variant of sprǣc, derivative of sprecan to speak; cognate with German Sprache
Related forms
self-speech, noun
Synonyms
1. parlance, parley, conversation, communication. Speech, language refer to the means of communication used by people. Speech is the expression of ideas and thoughts by means of articulate vocal sounds, or the faculty of thus expressing ideas and thoughts. Language is a set of conventional signs, not necessarily articulate or even vocal (any set of signs, signals, or symbols that convey meaning, including written words, may be called language): a spoken language. Thus, language is the set of conventions, and speech is the action of putting these to use: He couldn't understand the speech of the natives because it was in a foreign language. 3. observation, assertion, asseveration, comment, mention, talk. 4. talk, discourse. Speech, address, oration, harangue are terms for a communication to an audience. Speech is the general word, with no implication of kind or length, or whether planned or not. An address is a rather formal, planned speech, appropriate to a particular subject or occasion. An oration is a polished, rhetorical address, given usually on a notable occasion, that employs eloquence and studied methods of delivery. A harangue is a violent, informal speech, often addressed to a casually assembled audience, and intended to arouse strong feeling (sometimes to lead to mob action). 6. tongue, patois.
Examples from the web for speech
  • Talk to a speech-communication or theater professor for suggestions.
  • Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better.
  • His inaugural speech is also the first to be reprinted in a newspaper.
  • From now on, it's basically going to be all the free speech that money can buy.
  • And because he was out of the country, the singer was unaware of the firestorm brewing back home over the speech.
  • Modifications of the trachea to allow speech pushed the trachea and esophagus further down the throat to make way.
  • Free speech should override religious sensitivities.
  • Firstly, there was nothing disgraceful about the speech.
  • The reason for picking this particular gene is that it is the only one known so far to have a direct connection with speech.
  • As soon as he started his speech, his inner anguish started flowing.
British Dictionary definitions for speech

speech

/spiːtʃ/
noun
1.
  1. the act or faculty of speaking, esp as possessed by persons: to have speech with somebody
  2. (as modifier): speech therapy
2.
that which is spoken; utterance
3.
a talk or address delivered to an audience
4.
a person's characteristic manner of speaking
5.
a national or regional language or dialect
6.
(linguistics) another word for parole (sense 5)
Word Origin
Old English spēc; related to specan to speak
Word Origin and History for speech
n.

Old English spæc "act of speaking, manner of speaking, formal utterance," variant of spræc, related to sprecan, specan "to speak" (see speak), from Proto-Germanic *sprækijo (cf. German Sprache "speech"). The spr- forms were extinct in English by 1200. Meaning "address delivered to an audience" first recorded 1580s. Speechify "talk in a pompous, pontifical way" first recorded 1723.

And I honor the man who is willing to sink
Half his present repute for the freedom to think,
And, when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak,
Will risk t' other half for the freedom to speak,
Caring naught for what vengeance the mob has in store,
Let that mob be the upper ten thousand or lower.

[James Russell Lowell, "A Fable for Critics," 1848]

speech in Medicine

speech (spēch)
n.

  1. The faculty or act of expressing thoughts, feelings, or perceptions by the articulation of words.

  2. Vocal communication; conversation.