Word: say Part of Speech: verb Etymology: 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. Pronunciation: /seɪ/, [seː], [sɛj] 1. To pronounce. Labels: transitive Example: Please say your name slowly and clearly. 2. To recite. Labels: transitive Example: Martha, will you say the Pledge of Allegiance? Example: Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer. 3. To tell, either verbally or in writing. Labels: transitive Example: He said he would be here tomorrow. Example: No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait. 4. To indicate in a written form. Labels: transitive Example: The sign says it’s 50 kilometres to Paris. Example: What time does it say on the clock? 5. To have a common expression; used in singular passive voice or plural active voice to indicate a rumor or well-known fact. Labels: impersonal, transitive Example: They say "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", which means "behave as those around you do." Example: They say that Hope is happiness; But genuine Love must prize the past. 6. Suppose, assume; used to mark an example, supposition or hypothesis. Labels: imperative, informal, transitive Example: A holiday somewhere warm – Florida, say – would be nice. Example: Say he refuses. What do we do then? 7. To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply. Labels: intransitive Example: You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge Example: To this argument we shall soon have said; for what concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household privacies? 8. To bet as a wager on an outcome; by extension, used to express belief in an outcome by the speaker. Labels: especially, informal, transitive Example: 'My fifty pounds says three months after the invasion there'll be a free press in Iraq, and unmonitored internet access too.'