speak
/spik/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.03 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions.
Example Sentences
- "And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them."
- "I was so surprised I couldn't speak."
- "You're speaking too fast."
- "It's been ages since we've spoken."
- "He spoke of it in his diary."
- "Speak to me only with your eyes."
Etymology
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. Cognates Cognate with Scots speak, speik (“to speak”), Saterland Frisian spreke (“to speak”), West Frisian sprekke (“to speak”), Central Franconian sjprèche (“to speak”), Dutch and Low German spreken (“to speak”), German sprechen (“to speak”), Luxembourgish spriechen (“to speak”), and also with Albanian shpreh (“to express, manifest, show”) through Indo-European.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /spik/
- British English: /spiːk/
Usage
Inflected Forms
speaks (present, singular)
speaking (participle, present)
spoke (past)
spake (archaic, past)
spoke (colloquial, nonstandard)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
spoke (first person, past)
speakest (archaic, present)
spoke (past, second person)
spokest (archaic, past)
speaketh (archaic, present)