speech Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience
    address.
    • he listened to an address on minor Roman poets
  2. noun (language) communication by word of mouth
    oral communication; spoken language; language; voice communication; speech communication; spoken communication.
    • his speech was garbled
    • he uttered harsh language
    • he recorded the spoken language of the streets
  3. noun something spoken
    • he could hear them uttering merry speeches
  4. noun the exchange of spoken words
    • they were perfectly comfortable together without speech
  5. noun your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally
    manner of speaking; delivery.
    • his manner of speaking was quite abrupt
    • her speech was barren of southernisms
    • I detected a slight accent in his speech
  6. noun a lengthy rebuke
    lecture; talking to.
    • a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline
    • the teacher gave him a talking to
  7. noun words making up the dialogue of a play
    words; actor's line.
    • the actor forgot his speech
  8. noun the mental faculty or power of vocal communication
    language.
    • language sets homo sapiens apart from all other animals

WordNet

Speech noun
Etymology
OE. speche, AS. spc, spr, fr. specan, sprecan, to speak; akin to D. spraak speech, OHG. sprahha, G. sprache, Sw. sprk, Dan. sprog. See Speak.
Definitions
  1. The faculty of uttering articulate sounds or words; the faculty of expressing thoughts by words or articulate sounds; the power of speaking.
    There is none comparable to the variety of instructive expressions by speech, wherewith man alone is endowed for the communication of his thoughts. Holder.
  2. he act of speaking; that which is spoken; words, as expressing ideas; language; conversation. ✍ Speech is voice modulated by the throat, tongue, lips, etc., the modulation being accomplished by changing the form of the cavity of the mouth and nose through the action of muscles which move their walls.
    O goode God! how gentle and how kind Ye seemed by your speech and your visage The day that maked was our marriage. Chaucer.
    The acts of God . . . to human ears Can nort without process of speech be told. Milton.
  3. A particular language, as distinct from others; a tongue; a dialect.
    People of a strange speech and of an hard language. Ezek. iii. 6.
  4. Talk; mention; common saying.
    The duke . . . did of me demand What was the speech among the Londoners Concerning the French journey. Shak.
  5. formal discourse in public; oration; harangue.
    The constant design of these orators, in all their speeches, was to drive some one particular point. Swift.
  6. ny declaration of thoughts.
    I. with leave of speech implored, . . . replied. Milton.
    Syn. Harangue; language; address; oration. See Harangue, and Language.
Speech intransitive verb & transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To make a speech; to harangue. R.

Webster 1913