say

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[edit] English

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[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English seyen, seggen, from Old English secġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-Germanic *sagjanan (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷe-, *skʷē- (“to tell, talk”). Cognate with West Frisian sizze (“to say”), Dutch zeggen (“to say”), German sagen (“to say”), Swedish säga (“to say”).

[edit] Verb

say (third-person singular simple present says, present participle saying, simple past and past participle said)

  1. To pronounce.
    Please say your name slowly and clearly.
  2. To recite.
    Martha, will you say grace?
  3. To communicate, either verbally or in writing.
    He said he would be here tomorrow.
  4. To indicate in a written form.
    The sign says it’s 50 kilometres to Paris.
  5. (impersonal) to have a common expression; used in singular passive voice or plural active voice to indicate a rumor or well-known fact.
    • 1815, George Gordon Byron, The Hebrew Melodies/They say that Hope is happiness:
      They say that Hope is happiness; But genuine Love must prize the past.
    • 1819, Great Britain Court of Chancery, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery, page 8:
      It is said, a bargain cannot be set aside upon inadequacy only.
    • 1841, Christopher Marshall, The Knickerbocker (New-York Monthly Magazine), page 379:
      It’s said that fifteen wagon loads of ready-made clothes for the Virginia troops came to, and stay in, town to-night.
  6. (informal, imperative) Let's say; used to mark an example, supposition or hypothesis.
    • 1984, Martin Amis, Money: a suicide note‎
    A holiday somewhere warm – Florida, say – would be nice.
    Say he refuses. What do we do then?
    • I've followed Selina down the strip, when we're shopping, say, and she strolls on ahead, wearing sawn-off jeans and a wash-withered T-shirt...
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
terms derived from say (verb)
[edit] Translations
to pronounce
to recite
to communicate verbally or in writing
to indicate in a written form
to have a common expression
imperative: let's say
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] References

[edit] Interjection

say

  1. (informal) Used to gain one's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion; hey
    Say, what did you think about the movie?

[edit] Noun

say (plural says)

  1. One's stated opinion or input into a discussion.
    • 2004, Richard Rogers, Information politics on the Web
      Above all, however, we would like to think that there is more to be decided, after the engines and after the humans have had their says.

[edit] Etymology 2

From Middle French saie, from Latin saga, plural of sagum (“military cloak”).

[edit] Noun

say (uncountable)

  1. A type of fine cloth similar to serge.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.iv:
      All in a kirtle of discolourd say / He clothed was [...].

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Crimean Tatar

[edit] Noun

say

  1. shallow place, island.

[edit] Declension

    declension of say
nominative say
genitive saynıñ
dative sayğa
accusative saynı
locative sayda
ablative saydan

[edit] References

  • Useinov & Mireev Dictionary, Simferopol, Dolya, 2002 [1]

[edit] Vietnamese

[edit] Adjective

say

  1. Drunk, inebriated.
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