From Middle English speche, from Old English spǣċ, sprǣċ ("speech, discourse, language"), from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku, from Proto-Indo-European *spereg-, *spreg- ("to make a sound").

• IPA: /ˈspiːt͡ʃ/

speech

1. (uncountable) The ability to speak; the faculty of uttering words or articulate sounds and vocalizations to communicate.

   He had a bad speech impediment.

   After the accident she lost her speech.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:

     All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly, gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion […] such talk had been distressingly out of place.

   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “XV AND XVIII”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC ↗:

     I was at liberty to attend to Wilbert, who I could see desired speech with me. […] As far as Bobbie and I were concerned, silence reigned, this novel twist in the scenario having wiped speech from our lips, as the expression is, but Phyllis continued vocal. […] For perhaps a quarter of a minute after he had passed from the scene the aged relative stood struggling for utterance. At the end of this period she found speech. “Of all the damn silly fatheaded things!”

2. (uncountable) The act of speaking, a certain style of it.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:speech

   It was hard to hear his speech over the noise.

   Her speech was soft and lilting.

3. (countable) A formal session of speaking, especially a long oral message given publicly by one person.

   Synonyms: address, allocution, monologue, oration, soliloquy

   The candidate made some ambitious promises in his campaign speech.

   • 1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Young Clergyman:

     The constant design of both these orators, in all their speeches, was to drive some one particular point.

   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “I AND XII”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC ↗:

     He's going to present the prizes at Market Snodsbury Grammar School. We've been caught short as usual, and somebody has got to make a speech on ideals and the great world outside to those blasted boys, so he fits in nicely. I believe he's a very fine speaker. His only trouble is that he's stymied unless he has his speech with him and can read it. Calls it referring to his notes. […] “So that's why he's been going about looking like a dead fish. I suppose Roberta broke the engagement?” “In a speech lasting five minutes without a pause for breath.”

4. (countable) A dialect, vernacular, or (dated) a language.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:language

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Ezekiel 3:6 ↗:

     For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech, and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel.

5. (uncountable) Language used orally, rather than in writing.

   This word is mostly used in speech.

6. (grammar) An utterance that is quoted; see direct speech, reported speech
7. (uncountable) Public talk, news, gossip, rumour.
   • 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene iii]:

     The duke […] did of me demand / What was the speech among the Londoners / Concerning the French journey.

• speak

• French: parole
• German: Sprache
• Italian: parola
• Portuguese: fala
• Russian: речь
• Spanish: habla

• French: discours
• German: Rede, Ansprache
• Italian: discorso
• Portuguese: discurso
• Russian: речь
• Spanish: discurso

• Russian: косвенная речь

speech (speeches, present participle speeching; simple past and past participle speeched)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To make a speech; to harangue.
   • 1711 [December?] (date written), Jonathan Swift, “An Excellent New Song. Being the Intended Speech of a Famous Orator against Peace [i.e., Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham].”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume VII, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC ↗, page 73 ↗:

     I'll speech against peace while Dismal's my name, / And be a true whig, while I'm Not-in-game.