utterance
1
[
uht
-er-
uh
ns]
/ˈʌt ər əns/
noun
1.
an act of
uttering
; vocal expression.
2.
manner of speaking; power of speaking:
His very utterance was spellbinding.
3.
something
uttered
; a word or words
uttered
; a cry, animal's call, or the like.
4.
Linguistics.
any speech sequence consisting of one or more words and preceded and followed by silence: it may be coextensive with a sentence.
5.
Obsolete.
a public sale of goods.
Origin
1400-50;
late Middle English;
see
utter
1
,
-ance
utterance
2
[
uht
-er-
uh
ns]
/ˈʌt ər əns/
noun
,
Archaic.
1.
the utmost extremity, especially death.
Origin
1350-1400;
Middle English
<
Old French
outrance, oultrance,
equivalent to
oultr
(
er
) to pass beyond (<
Latin
ultrā
beyond) +
-ance
-ance
Examples from the web for
utterance
The
utterance
is, after all, the important part of the act.
In no public or private
utterance
was it ever admitted that the three powers had at any time been grouped along different lines.
Three instances in which freedom of
utterance
is said to have been either denied or imperiled are cited.
Particular stress was laid on the importance of the one-term
utterance
.
Scored for piano quartet and soprano, the work is lyrical in its
utterance
and spare in its rhetoric.
Yet the left continues to elevate her every
utterance
so that they can mock and deride her.
There is no lack of spontaneity in her actions or in the
utterance
of her lines.
Hey, every politician blows a word now and then, especially presidents who have every public
utterance
recorded and transcribed.
The result was that the dominant imitative tendencies almost succeeded in stifling in them all original
utterance
.
But if the receivers take it still without
utterance
, the mind may soon grow a burden to itself, and unprofitable to others.
British Dictionary definitions for
utterance
utterance
1
/
ˈʌtərəns
/
noun
1.
something uttered, such as a statement
2.
the act or power of uttering or the ability to utter
3.
(
logic
,
philosophy
) an element of spoken language, esp a sentence
Compare
inscription
(sense 4)
utterance
2
/
ˈʌtərəns
/
noun
1.
(
archaic or literary
) the bitter end (esp in the phrase
to the utterance
)
Word Origin
C13: from Old French
oultrance,
from
oultrer
to carry to excess, from Latin
ultrā
beyond
Word Origin and History for
utterance
n.
"that which is uttered," mid-15c., from
utter
(v.) +
-ance
.