Say Definition

said, says
verb
said, says
To utter, pronounce, or speak.
Webster's New World
To express in words; state; declare; tell.
Webster's New World
To state positively, with assurance, or as an opinion.
Who can say what will be?
Webster's New World
To state as a determination of fact.
It's hard to say who is right in this matter.
American Heritage
To recite; repeat.
To say one's prayers.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
noun
says
A chance to speak.
To have one's say.
Webster's New World
Power or authority, as to make or help make a final decision.
Webster's New World
Something said; a statement.
American Heritage
What a person says; dictum.
Webster's New World

One's stated opinion or input into a discussion or decision.

Wiktionary
Synonyms:
adverb
For example.
Any fish, say perch.
Webster's New World
About; nearly.
Costing, say, 10 dollars.
Webster's New World
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.
Wiktionary
(colloquial) Used to gain one's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion.
Say, what did you think about the movie?
Wiktionary
interjection
Used to express surprise, admiration, etc., or to get someone's attention.
Webster's New World
conjuntion

(informal) Used to introduce a hypothetical.

Say your family is starving and you don't have any money, is it ok to steal some food?
Wiktionary
idiom
I say
  • Used preceding an utterance to call attention to it:

    I say, do you have the time?

  • Used as an exclamation of surprise, delight, or dismay.
American Heritage
that is to say
  • In other words.
American Heritage
to say nothing of
  • And there is no need to mention. Used to allude to things that fill out an idea or argument:

    The yard is a mess, to say nothing of the house.

American Heritage
you can say that again
  • Used to express strong agreement with what has just been said.
American Heritage
go without saying
  • to be too obvious to need explanation; be self-evident
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Say

Noun

Singular:
say
Plural:
says

Origin of Say

  • From Middle English seyen, seien, seggen, &c., from Old English secÄ¡an (“to say, speak"), from Proto-Germanic *sagjanÄ… (“to say"), from Proto-Indo-European *sekÊ·-, *sekÊ·e-, *skÊ·Ä“- (“to tell, talk"). Cognate with West Frisian sizze (“to say"), Dutch zeggen (“to say"), German sagen (“to say"), Swedish säga (“to say").

    From Wiktionary

  • Grammaticalization of the verb. In the case of the conjunction, it could be considered an elision of "Let's say that" and for the "for example" sense of "Let's say"

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English seien from Old English secgan sekw-3 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Middle French saie, from Latin saga, plural of sagum (“military cloak").

    From Wiktionary

  • Aphetic form of assay.

    From Wiktionary

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