Meaning

3 senses

  1. (uncountable)Language, jargon, or terminology used uniquely in a particular environment or group.

    corporate speak; IT speak

  2. (countable)Speech, conversation.

  3. (dated)A low class bar, a speakeasy.

Examples

16360 sentences

  1. I was too surprised to speak.

    Я був занадто здивований, щоб говорити. — deniko

    ruЯ был так удивлён, что не мог говорить. — marafon

    deIch war zu überrascht, um etwas zu sagen. — Tamy

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. How many languages can you speak?

    Скількома мовами ти розмовляєш? — deniko

    ruНа скольких языках ты говоришь? — marafon

    deWie viele Sprachen kannst du? — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Is it hard to speak English?

    Англійською важко розмовляти? — deniko

    ruТрудно ли говорить по-английски? — Wayawa

    deIst es schwierig, Englisch zu sprechen? — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. English is spoken in many countries.

    Англійською говорять у багатьох країнах. — uaspeaker

    ruПо-английски говорят во многих странах. — Hellerick

    deEnglisch wird in vielen Ländern gesprochen. — xtofu80

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. I wish I could speak English.

    Я би хотів уміти говорити англійською. — deniko

    ruЖаль, что я не говорю по-английски. — sharptoothed

    deIch wünschte, ich könnte Englisch sprechen. — Esperantostern

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

4 languages

Origin

From Middle English speke, speken (“to speak”), from Old English specan (“to speak”). This

From Middle English speke, speken (“to speak”), from Old English specan (“to speak”). This is usually taken to be an irregular alteration of earlier sprecan, spreocan (“to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan, from Proto-Germanic *sprekaną (“to speak, make a sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *spreg- (“to make a sound, utter, speak”). Finding this proposed loss of r from the stable cluster spr unparalleled, Hill instead sets up a different root, Proto-West Germanic *spekan (“to negotiate”) from Proto-Indo-European *bʰégʾ-e- (“to distribute”) with *s-mobile, which collapsed in meaning with *sprekan ("to speak" < "to crackle, prattle") and so came to be seen as a free variant thereof.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: speaks
Singularspeak
Pluralspeaks

regular

Word family

18 related words
Derivedautospeakcyberspeakdiplomat-speakdiplospeakdoublespeakduckspeakfarspeaklawyerspeakleetspeakmallspeakmedspeaknewspeaknonspeakoldspeakspeak-boxtherapy-speakuwu speakweather speak

Lessons for this word

2 lessons

Collocations

12 patterns
  • speaking speaking
  • how to speak
  • can't speak
  • at speaking speaking
  • was speaking speaking
  • able to speak
  • who can speak
  • speaking speaking in
  • to speak to
  • good at speaking
  • want to speak
  • generally speaking speaking

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
spawnspayspeakerA2speakerphonespeaking

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

speak — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto