voice

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Voice

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Old English vois, voys < Old French vois, voiz, French voix < Latin vox, vocis, akin to Sanskrit वच् (to say, to speak) and German erwähnen (to mention). Compare advocate, advowson, avouch, convoke, epic, vocal, vouch, vowel.

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /vɔɪs/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -ɔɪs

[edit] Noun

voice (plural voices)

1. Sound uttered by the mouth, especially that uttered by human beings in speech or song; steven; sound thus uttered considered as possessing some special quality or character; as, the human voice; a pleasant voice; a low voice.

   • He with a manly voice saith his message. — Geoffrey Chaucer
   • Her voice was ever soft, Gentle, and low; an excellent thing in woman. — Shakespeare, King Lear, V-iii
   • Thy voice is music. — Shakespeare, Henry V, V-ii
   • Join thy voice unto the angel choir. — John Milton

2. (phonetics) Sound of the kind or quality heard in speech or song in the consonants b, v, d, etc., and in the vowels; sonant, or intonated, utterance; tone; — distinguished from mere breath sound as heard in f, s, sh, etc., and also whisper.
3. The tone or sound emitted by anything

   • After the fire a still small voice. — 1 Kings 19:12
   • Canst thou thunder with a voice like him? — Job 40:9
   • The floods have lifted up their voice. — Psalms 93:3
   • O Marcus, I am warm’d; my heart Leaps at the trumpet’s voice. — Joseph Addison

4. The faculty or power of utterance; as, to cultivate the voice
5. Language; words; speech; expression; signification of feeling or opinion

   • I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. — Galatians 4:20
   • My voice is in my sword. — Shakespeare, Macbeth, V-vii
   • Let us call on God in the voice of his church. — Bp. Fell

6. Opinion or choice expressed; judgment; a vote.

   • Sicinius. How now, my masters! have you chose this man? / 1st Citizen. He has our voices, sir. — Shakespeare, Coriolanus, II-iii
   • Some laws ordain, and some attend the choice / Of holy senates, and elect by voice. — John Dryden

7. Command; precept; — now chiefly used in scriptural language.

   • So shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God. — Deuteronomy 8:20

8. One who speaks; a speaker.

   • A potent voice of Parliament. — Alfred Tennyson

9. (grammar) A particular mode of inflecting or conjugating verbs, or a particular form of a verb, by means of which is indicated the relation of the subject of the verb to the action which the verb expresses.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Derived terms

• voice of the toothless one
• active voice
• chest voice
• head voice
• middle voice
• passive voice
• voice glide
• voiced stop
• With one voice, unanimously.

  • All with one voice . . . cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. — Acts 19:34

[edit] Verb

to voice (third-person singular simple present voices, present participle voicing, simple past and past participle voiced)

1. (transitive) To give utterance or expression to; to utter; to publish; to announce; to divulge; as, to voice the sentiments of the nation.

   • Rather assume thy right in silence and . . . then voice it with claims and challenges. — Francis Bacon
   • It was voiced that the king purposed to put to death Edward Plantagenet. — Francis Bacon

2. (transitive, phonology) To utter with sonant or vocal tone; to pronounce with a narrowed glottis and rapid vibrations of the vocal cords; to speak above a whisper.
3. (transitive) To fit for producing the proper sounds; to regulate the tone of; as, to voice the pipes of an organ.
4. (transitive, obsolete) To vote; to elect; to appoint — Shakespeare
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To clamor; to cry out, to steven — South

[edit] Translations

[edit] Related terms

• vocable
• vocabulary
• vocal
• vocalization
• vocalize
• vocation