say.
To pronounce.
Meaning & usage
To pronounce.
Please say your name slowly and clearly.
To recite.
Martha, will you say the Pledge of Allegiance?
To tell, either verbally or in writing.
He said he would be here tomorrow.
The note I think he said she wrote is nowhere to be found.
To indicate in a written form.
The sign says it’s 50 kilometres to Paris.
What time does it say on the clock?
To have a common expression; used in singular passive voice or plural active voice to indicate a rumor or well-known fact.
They say "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", which means "behave as those around you do."
Suppose, assume; used to mark an example, supposition or hypothesis.
A holiday somewhere warm – Florida, say – would be nice.
Say he refuses. What do we do then?
To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
To bet as a wager on an outcome; by extension, used to express belief in an outcome by the speaker.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English saien, sain, san, secgan, segen, seien, sein, seiȝen, sugen, sægen, ziggen, from Old English seċġan, secgean, secggan, secggean, seggan, sæċġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-h₁-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sekʷ- (“to say”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian sai, seede, sii, sjide, sooi, säie (“to say”), West Frisian sizze (“to say”), Alemannic German ŝchége, ŝchegi, séege, säge, sägä (“to say”), Bavarian sogn, soon, sågn (“to say”), Dutch zeggen (“to say”), German sagen (“to say”), Low German seggen (“to say, tell”), Luxembourgish soen (“to say”), Vilamovian ziöen, zuön, zuø̄n (“to say”), Yiddish זאָגן (zogn, “to say”), Danish sige (“to say”), Elfdalian saja (“to say”), Faroese siga (“to say”), Icelandic segja (“to say”), Jamtish segi (“to say”), Norwegian Bokmål si (“to say”), Norwegian Nynorsk segja, seia, seie (“to say, tell”), Scanian siğa (“to say”), Swedish säga (“to say”); also Cornish hwedhel (“narrative, story, tale”), Irish scéal (“story, tale”), Manx skeeal (“story; news; narrative”), Scottish Gaelic sgeul (“story, tale; information, news”), Welsh chwedl (“story, tale”), hebu (“to say”), Latin inquam (“to say”), Ancient Greek ἐνέπω (enépō), ἐννέπω (ennépō, “tell or tell about; speak”), Latvian sacīt (“to say, tell”), Lithuanian sakyti (“to say, tell”), Bulgarian соча (soča, “to indicate; to point”), Czech sočit (“to blame, hate”), Old Polish soczyć (“to accuse, slander”), Russian сочи́ть (sočítʹ, “to emit (a liquid)”), Ukrainian сочи́ти (sočýty, “to emit (a liquid), exude, ooze; to drain, sap”). The adverb and interjection are from the verb.
A chance to speak; the right or power to influence or make a decision.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English saien, sain, san, secgan, segen, seien, sein, seiȝen, sugen, sægen, ziggen, from Old English seċġan, secgean, secggan, secggean, seggan, sæċġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-h₁-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sekʷ- (“to say”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian sai, seede, sii, sjide, sooi, säie (“to say”), West Frisian sizze (“to say”), Alemannic German ŝchége, ŝchegi, séege, säge, sägä (“to say”), Bavarian sogn, soon, sågn (“to say”), Dutch zeggen (“to say”), German sagen (“to say”), Low German seggen (“to say, tell”), Luxembourgish soen (“to say”), Vilamovian ziöen, zuön, zuø̄n (“to say”), Yiddish זאָגן (zogn, “to say”), Danish sige (“to say”), Elfdalian saja (“to say”), Faroese siga (“to say”), Icelandic segja (“to say”), Jamtish segi (“to say”), Norwegian Bokmål si (“to say”), Norwegian Nynorsk segja, seia, seie (“to say, tell”), Scanian siğa (“to say”), Swedish säga (“to say”); also Cornish hwedhel (“narrative, story, tale”), Irish scéal (“story, tale”), Manx skeeal (“story; news; narrative”), Scottish Gaelic sgeul (“story, tale; information, news”), Welsh chwedl (“story, tale”), hebu (“to say”), Latin inquam (“to say”), Ancient Greek ἐνέπω (enépō), ἐννέπω (ennépō, “tell or tell about; speak”), Latvian sacīt (“to say, tell”), Lithuanian sakyti (“to say, tell”), Bulgarian соча (soča, “to indicate; to point”), Czech sočit (“to blame, hate”), Old Polish soczyć (“to accuse, slander”), Russian сочи́ть (sočítʹ, “to emit (a liquid)”), Ukrainian сочи́ти (sočýty, “to emit (a liquid), exude, ooze; to drain, sap”). The adverb and interjection are from the verb.
For example; let us assume.
Pick a color you think they'd like, say, peach.
He was driving pretty fast, say, fifty miles per hour.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English saien, sain, san, secgan, segen, seien, sein, seiȝen, sugen, sægen, ziggen, from Old English seċġan, secgean, secggan, secggean, seggan, sæċġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-h₁-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sekʷ- (“to say”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian sai, seede, sii, sjide, sooi, säie (“to say”), West Frisian sizze (“to say”), Alemannic German ŝchége, ŝchegi, séege, säge, sägä (“to say”), Bavarian sogn, soon, sågn (“to say”), Dutch zeggen (“to say”), German sagen (“to say”), Low German seggen (“to say, tell”), Luxembourgish soen (“to say”), Vilamovian ziöen, zuön, zuø̄n (“to say”), Yiddish זאָגן (zogn, “to say”), Danish sige (“to say”), Elfdalian saja (“to say”), Faroese siga (“to say”), Icelandic segja (“to say”), Jamtish segi (“to say”), Norwegian Bokmål si (“to say”), Norwegian Nynorsk segja, seia, seie (“to say, tell”), Scanian siğa (“to say”), Swedish säga (“to say”); also Cornish hwedhel (“narrative, story, tale”), Irish scéal (“story, tale”), Manx skeeal (“story; news; narrative”), Scottish Gaelic sgeul (“story, tale; information, news”), Welsh chwedl (“story, tale”), hebu (“to say”), Latin inquam (“to say”), Ancient Greek ἐνέπω (enépō), ἐννέπω (ennépō, “tell or tell about; speak”), Latvian sacīt (“to say, tell”), Lithuanian sakyti (“to say, tell”), Bulgarian соча (soča, “to indicate; to point”), Czech sočit (“to blame, hate”), Old Polish soczyć (“to accuse, slander”), Russian сочи́ть (sočítʹ, “to emit (a liquid)”), Ukrainian сочи́ти (sočýty, “to emit (a liquid), exude, ooze; to drain, sap”). The adverb and interjection are from the verb.
Used to gain someone's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion
Say, what did you think about the movie?
Where this word comes from
From Middle English saien, sain, san, secgan, segen, seien, sein, seiȝen, sugen, sægen, ziggen, from Old English seċġan, secgean, secggan, secggean, seggan, sæċġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-h₁-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sekʷ- (“to say”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian sai, seede, sii, sjide, sooi, säie (“to say”), West Frisian sizze (“to say”), Alemannic German ŝchége, ŝchegi, séege, säge, sägä (“to say”), Bavarian sogn, soon, sågn (“to say”), Dutch zeggen (“to say”), German sagen (“to say”), Low German seggen (“to say, tell”), Luxembourgish soen (“to say”), Vilamovian ziöen, zuön, zuø̄n (“to say”), Yiddish זאָגן (zogn, “to say”), Danish sige (“to say”), Elfdalian saja (“to say”), Faroese siga (“to say”), Icelandic segja (“to say”), Jamtish segi (“to say”), Norwegian Bokmål si (“to say”), Norwegian Nynorsk segja, seia, seie (“to say, tell”), Scanian siğa (“to say”), Swedish säga (“to say”); also Cornish hwedhel (“narrative, story, tale”), Irish scéal (“story, tale”), Manx skeeal (“story; news; narrative”), Scottish Gaelic sgeul (“story, tale; information, news”), Welsh chwedl (“story, tale”), hebu (“to say”), Latin inquam (“to say”), Ancient Greek ἐνέπω (enépō), ἐννέπω (ennépō, “tell or tell about; speak”), Latvian sacīt (“to say, tell”), Lithuanian sakyti (“to say, tell”), Bulgarian соча (soča, “to indicate; to point”), Czech sočit (“to blame, hate”), Old Polish soczyć (“to accuse, slander”), Russian сочи́ть (sočítʹ, “to emit (a liquid)”), Ukrainian сочи́ти (sočýty, “to emit (a liquid), exude, ooze; to drain, sap”). The adverb and interjection are from the verb.
A type of fine cloth similar to serge.
Where this word comes from
From Middle French saie, from Latin saga, plural of sagum (“military cloak”).
To try; to assay.
Where this word comes from
Aphetic form of assay.
Trial by sample; assay; specimen.
Tried quality; temper; proof.
Essay; trial; attempt.
Where this word comes from
Aphetic form of assay.
A strainer for milk.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.