speech act

noun, Philosophy, Linguistics
1.
any of the acts that may be performed by a speaker in making an utterance, as stating, asking, requesting, advising, warning, or persuading, considered in terms of the content of the message, the intention of the speaker, and the effect on the listener.
Examples from the web for speech act
  • Consistent with speech act theory, participants recognized the speech acts that speakers performed with their utterances.
British Dictionary definitions for speech act

speech act

noun (philosophy)
1.
an utterance that constitutes some act in addition to the mere act of uttering
2.
an act or type of act capable of being so performed
See also performative