speaker

See also: Speaker

English

Etymology

From Middle English speker, spekere, an alteration (with change of suffix) of Old English speca, spreca (“speaker”), from Proto-Germanic *sprekô (“speaker”), equivalent to speak +‎ -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Spreeker (“speaker”), West Frisian sprekker (“speaker”), Dutch spreker (“speaker”), German Low German Spreker (“speaker”), German Sprecher (“speaker”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspikɚ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈspiːkə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːkə(ɹ)

Noun

speaker (plural speakers)

1. One who speaks.
   • 1989, R. Norman Whybray, Ecclesiastes, A&C Black (→ISBN), page 15:

     This title is derived from the first verse of the book (1.1), which is a heading or colophon informing the reader who this Qoheleth was: he was the author of the book, or at least the speaker of the words which are contained in it ...

   There were three different speakers, but I couldn't make out their accents.

3. Loudspeaker.

   She lost her hearing after standing too close to the speaker at the festival.

4. Speakerphone.
6. (politics) The chair or presiding officer of certain legislative bodies, such as the U.K. House of Commons or the U.S. House of Representatives.
7. One who makes a speech to an audience.

   The company hired a motivational speaker to boost morale.

8. (US) A book containing passages of text for use in speeches.
10. (especially in linguistics) The producer of a given utterance, whether speech or text.
    • 2002, Merlin Donald, A Mind So Rare: The Evolution of Human Consciousness, W. W. Norton & Company (→ISBN), page 242:

      The speaker spelled out the words to be communicated, letter by letter, while the reader's hand read the speaker's message. In its original form the hand alphabet assumed that both speaker and reader could already speak and spell the words ...

    2. (poetry) The literary character uttering the lyrics of a poem or song, as opposed to the author writing the words of that character.

       Popular culture often incorrectly attributes quotes from the speakers of poems or songs to the authors thereof, as when "I took the one less traveled by" is attributed to Robert Frost rather than to the speaker in Frost's "The Road Not Taken".

11. (music) A key on a woodwind instrument of the clarinet family (cf octave key on other instruments) which induces the instrument to overblow.

Synonyms

• talker

Translations

one who speaks

• Arabic: خَطِيب m (ḵaṭīb), مُتَكَلِّم m (mutakallim), مُحَدِّث m (muḥaddiṯ)
• Aragonese: charrador m
• Armenian: խոսող (hy) (xosoġ)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܠܵܠܵܐ m (mālala), ܗܲܡܙܸܡܵܢܵܐ m (hāmzimana)
• Basque: hiztun (eu) mintzazaile
• Belarusian: гаво́рачы m (havóračy)
• Bulgarian: говори́тел (bg) m (govorítel)
• Catalan: parlant (ca) m or f
• Cherokee: ᎦᏬᏂᏍᎩ (gawonisgi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 報告人／报告人 (zh) (bàogàorén), 报告人 (zh) (bàogàorén), 廣播員／广播员 (zh) (guǎngbōyuán), 广播员 (zh) (guǎngbōyuán)

• Czech: mluvčí (cs) m
• Danish: taler (da)
• Dutch: spreker (nl) m, spreekster f
• Esperanto: parolanto (eo)
• Estonian: rääkija, kõneleja (et)
• Extremaduran: palranti m or f
• Finnish: puhuja (fi)
• French: parleur (fr) m, parleuse (fr) f, (speaker of a language) locuteur (fr) m, locutrice (fr) f
• Friulian: fevelant
• Galician: falante m or f
• Georgian: მოლაპარაკე (molaṗaraḳe)
• German: Sprecher (de) m, Sprecherin (de) f
• Greek: ομιλητής (el) m (omilitís)
• Hungarian: beszélő (hu)
• Ido: parolanto (io)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: penutur (id)
• Interlingua: parlator
• Italian: parlante (it) m or f
• Japanese: 話者 (ja) (わしゃ, washa), 話し手 (はなして, hanashite), スピーカー (ja) (supīkā)
• Khmer: វាគ្មិន (km) (viəkmɨn)
• Korean: 화자(話者) (ko) (hwaja)
• Latin: orator (la)
• Macedonian: говорник m (govornik)
• Maltese: kelliem m, kelliema f
• Maori: kaikōrero
• Norman: pâleux m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: taler (no) m

• Persian: گوینده (fa) (guyande)
• Plautdietsch: Rädna m
• Polish: mówca (pl) m, mówiący m, mówczyni (pl) f
• Portuguese: falante (pt) m or f
• Quechua: willaq
• Romanian: vorbitor (ro) m, vorbitoare (ro) f
• Russian: носи́тель (ru) m (nosítelʹ) (of a language), говоря́щий (ru) m (govorjáščij), спи́кер (ru) m (spíker)
• Slovak: hovorca m, rečník m
• Slovene: govorec m anim, govorka f
• Spanish: hablante (es) m or f, parlante (es) m or f
• Swedish: talare (sv) c
• Tocharian B: weṣṣeñca
• Turkish: konuşmacı (tr)
• Ukrainian: мо́вець m (móvecʹ), мовля́нин m (movljányn), спі́кер m (spíker)

loudspeaker — see also loudspeaker

• Albanian: lartëfolës f, altoparlant (sq) m, zëdhënës (sq) m
• Arabic: سَمَاعَة f (samāʕa)
• Armenian: բարձրախոս (hy) (barjraxos)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܪܵܡܩܵܠܵܐ m (ramqala)
• Azerbaijani: səsucaldan
• Basque: bozgorailu (eu)
• Belarusian: гучнагавары́цель m (hučnahavarýcjelʹ)
• Bulgarian: високоговори́тел (bg) m (visokogovorítel)
• Catalan: altaveu (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 揚聲器／扬声器 (zh) (yángshēngqì), 扬声器 (zh) (yángshēngqì), 喇叭 (zh) (lǎba), 音箱 (zh) (yīnxiāng)

• Czech: reproduktor (cs) m
• Danish: højttaler (da) c
• Dutch: box (nl) m, luidspreker (nl) m
• Esperanto: laŭtparolilo
• Estonian: kõlar (et), valjuhääldi (et)
• Finnish: kaiutin (fi)
• French: baffle (fr), haut-parleur (fr) m
• Galician: altofalante (gl) m
• Georgian: ხმამაღლამოლაპარაკე (xmamaɣlamolaṗaraḳe)
• German: Lautsprecher (de) m
• Greek: μεγάφωνο (el) n (megáfono), ηχείο (el) n (icheío)
• Hebrew: רַמְקוֹל (he) m (ramkol)
• Hungarian: hangszóró (hu), hangfal (hu), kihangosító, kihangosítás
• Icelandic: hátalari (is) m
• Indonesian: pengeras suara (id), pelantang, sepiker (id) (colloquial)
• Interlingua: altoparlator
• Italian: altoparlante (it) m
• Japanese: スピーカー (ja) (supīkā), 拡音器 (かくおんき, kakuonki)
• Kazakh: дыбыс зорайтқыш (dybys zoraitqyş)
• Khmer: អូប៉ាល័រ (ʼoupaalɔə), បំពង់ឧគ្ឃោសនស័ព្ទ (bɑmpŭəng ʼukkhoosaʼnaʼ sap)
• Korean: 스피커 (ko) (seupikeo), 확성기(擴聲器) (ko) (hwakseonggi), 고성기(高聲器) (goseonggi), 경음기(警音機) (gyeong'eumgi) (North Korea)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: skaļrunis m, reproduktors m
• Lithuanian: garsiakalbis m
• Macedonian: звучник m (zvučnik)
• Malay: pembesar suara
• Maltese: spiker
• Maori: tukuoro
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: чанга яричг (čanga jaričg)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: høyttaler m, høytaler (no) m, høgtaler m

  Nynorsk: høgtalar m

• Persian: بلندگو (fa) (boland-gou), صوتال (fa)
• Polish: głośnik (pl) m
• Portuguese: alto-falante (pt) m, altifalante m, caixa de som
• Romanian: difuzor (ro) n
• Russian: громкоговори́тель (ru) m (gromkogovorítelʹ), дина́мик (ru) m (dinámik), коло́нка (ru) f (kolónka), спи́кер (ru) m (spíker)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: зву̑чнӣк m

  Roman: zvȗčnīk (sh) m

• Slovak: reproduktor m
• Slovene: zvočnik (sl) m inan
• Spanish: altavoz (es) m, altoparlante (es) m, parlante (es) m, bocina (es) f, bafle (es) m
• Swahili: spika (sw)
• Swedish: högtalare (sv) c
• Thai: ลำโพง (th) (lam-poong)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: hoparlör (tr)
• Ukrainian: гучномо́вець m (hučnomóvecʹ)
• Uzbek: radiokarnay (uz), karnay (uz)
• Vietnamese: loa (vi)
• Volapük: tonöm
• Welsh: seinydd (cy) m
• White Hmong: please add this translation if you can
• Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

politics: the chair or presiding officer

• Armenian: խոսնակ (hy) (xosnak)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܠܵܠܵܐ m (mālala)
• Basque: ganberako presidente, ganberako buru
• Belarusian: спі́кер m (spíkjer)
• Bulgarian: председа́тел (bg) m (predsedátel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 議長／议长 (zh) (yìzhǎng), 议长 (zh) (yìzhǎng)

• Estonian: spiiker
• Finnish: puhemies (fi)
• French: président (fr) m, présidente (fr) f
• Galician: presidente (gl) m
• Georgian: სპიკერი (sṗiḳeri)
• German: Vorsitzender (de) m, Vorsitzende (de) f, Nationalratspräsident (de) m (Austria), Nationalratspräsidentin (de) f (Austria), Bundestagspräsident (de) m (Germany), Bundestagspräsidentin f (Germany), Parlamentspräsident (de) m, Parlamentspräsidentin (de) f, Präsident des Unterhauses m, Präsidentin des Unterhauses f, Präsident des Oberhauses m, Präsidentin des Oberhauses f
• Greek: πρόεδρος (el) m or f (próedros)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hebrew: יוֹשֵׁב רֹאשׁ m (yoshév rosh), יו״ר (yor) (acronym)
• Hungarian: házelnök (hu)
• Italian: presidente (it) m or f, presidentessa (it) f
• Japanese: 議長 (ja) (ぎちょう, gichō)
• Khmer: វាគ្មិន (km) (viəkmɨn)
• Korean: 의장(議長) (ko) (uijang)
• Macedonian: претседател m (pretsedatel), спикер m (spiker)
• Maltese: speaker
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: speaker (no) m, parlamentstalsmann m, parlamentspresident m

• Persian: سخنگو (fa) (soxangu)
• Portuguese: presidente (pt) m
• Romanian: președinte (ro) m, speaker (ro) m
• Russian: спи́кер (ru) m (spíker)
• Slovene: predsednik (sl) m anim, predsednica f
• Swedish: talman (sv) c, president (sv) c, föredragande (sv) c, ordförande (sv) c
• Ukrainian: спі́кер m (spíker)
• Vietnamese: nghị trưởng (vi), chủ tịch nghị viện

one who makes a speech to an audience

• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܠܵܠܵܐ m (mālala)
• Basque: hizlari (eu), mintzalari (eu)
• Belarusian: прамо́ўца m (pramóŭca), ара́тар m (arátar)
• Bulgarian: говори́тел (bg) m (govorítel), говори́телка f (govorítelka)
• Catalan: orador (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 講員／讲员 (gong² jyun⁴), 讲员 (gong² jyun⁴)

  Mandarin: 報告人／报告人 (zh) (bàogàorén), 报告人 (zh) (bàogào rén), 發言者／发言者, 发言者 (fāyánzhě), 演講人／演讲人, 演讲人 (yǎnjiǎng rén), 講員／讲员 (jiǎngyuán), 讲员 (jiǎngyuán), 演說者／演说者 (zh) (yǎnshuōzhě), 演说者 (zh) (yǎnshuōzhě)

• Czech: řečník m
• Esperanto: parolanto (eo), parolinto, parolonto
• Finnish: puhuja (fi)
• French: orateur (fr) m, oratrice (fr) f, intervenant (fr) m, intervenante (fr) f
• Galician: orador m, oradora f
• German: Referent (de) m, Referentin (de) f
• Greek: ομιλητής (el) m (omilitís), ρήτορας (el) m (rítoras)
• Hungarian: szónok (hu)
• Indonesian: pembicara (id)
• Interlingua: orator
• Italian: relatore (it) m, relatrice (it) f
• Japanese: 話者 (ja) (わしゃ, washa), 演説家 (えんぜつか, enzetsuka)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Khmer: វាគ្មិន (km) (viəkmɨn)
• Korean: 연설자(演說者) (yeonseolja), 연사(演士) (yeonsa), 화자(話者) (ko) (hwaja)
• Macedonian: го́ворник m (góvornik)
• Maori: kaiwhaikōrero, kaiwhaikupu
• Persian: سخنران (fa) (soxanrân)
• Polish: mówca (pl) m
• Portuguese: orador (pt) m, oradora f
• Romanian: vorbitor (ro) m, vorbitoare (ro) f, orator (ro) m, oratoare (ro) f
• Russian: докла́дчик (ru) m (dokládčik), ора́тор (ru) m (orátor)
• Slovak: rečník m
• Slovene: govornik m anim, govornica f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: referent m, referentka f

• Spanish: orador (es) m, oradora f
• Swedish: talare (sv) c, föreläsare (sv) c
• Telugu: వక్త (te) (vakta)
• Thai: โฆษก (th) (koo-sòk)
• Turkish: sunucu (tr), spiker (tr)
• Ukrainian: промо́вець m (promóvecʹ), ора́тор (uk) m (orátor)
• Vietnamese: nhà hùng biện, người diển thuyết

book

• Finnish: puheopas
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

linguistics: producer of a given utterance

• Finnish: puhuja (fi)
• French: locuteur (fr) m, locutrice (fr) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: bahasawan (id), penutur (id), pemakai bahasa, pengguna bahasa
• Macedonian: говорник m (govornik)
• Malay: penutur
• Persian: گویشور (fa)
• Spanish: locutor (es) m

Further reading

• Link to web page on Speaker of the House of Commons (3)

Anagrams

• Preseka, parkees, peakers, re-speak, respake, respeak

---

Brunei Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from English speaker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spikə/
• Hyphenation: spea‧ker

Noun

speaker

1. (colloquial) loudspeaker

---

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English speaker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spi.kœʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

speaker m (plural speakers, feminine speakerine)

1. announcer
2. speaker (in parliament)

Further reading

• “speaker”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

---

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English speaker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspi.ker/
• Rhymes: -iker

Noun

speaker m (invariable)

1. announcer, commentator (radio, TV)
2. speaker (parliamentary)

---

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English speaker.

Noun

speaker m (definite singular speakeren, indefinite plural speakere, definite plural speakerne)

1. announcer (at sports events etc.)
2. speaker (in parliament, chiefly concering UK or US)

Further reading

• “speaker” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “speaker” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

---

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English speaker.

Noun

speaker m (plural speakeri)

1. speaker

Declension

Declension of speaker

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) speaker	speakerul	(niște) speakeri	speakerii
genitive/dative	(unui) speaker	speakerului	(unor) speakeri	speakerilor
vocative	speakerule		speakerilor

---

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspikeɾ/ [ˈspi.keɾ]

• IPA^(key): /esˈpikeɾ/ [esˈpi.keɾ]

Noun

speaker m or f (plural speakers or speaker)

1. speaker (in parliament)