speakable

Variant of speak

intransitive verb spoke, spoken, speaking

  1. to utter words with the ordinary voice; talk
  2. to express or communicate opinions, feelings, ideas, etc. by or as by talking: speak in our behalf, actions speak louder than words
  3. to make a request or reservation (for): usually in the passive voice: a seat not yet spoken for
  4. to make a speech; deliver an address or lecture; discourse
  5. to be a spokesman (for)
  6. to talk with another or others; converse
  7. to make or give out sound, as a gun firing or a dog barking

Origin: ME speken < OE specan, earlier sprecan, akin to Ger sprechen < IE base *sp(h)er(e)-g-, to strew, sprinkle > spark, L spargere, to sprinkle: basic sense “to scatter (words)”

transitive verb

  1. to express or make known by or as by speaking
  2. to use or be able to use (a given language) in speaking
  3. to utter (words) orally
  4. Archaic to speak to; address
  5. Archaic to declare or show to be; reveal
  6. Naut. to hail (a ship)

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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