Say
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
say¹
- /seɪ/ US
- [seː] US
- /seɪ/ British, Southern, Standard
- [sɛj] British, Southern, Standard
- /seɪ/ UK
- /seɪ/ Canada
- [seː] Canada
Rhymes with -eɪ
Where it 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.
verb says · saying · said · say
- 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.
- To indicate in a written form. The sign says it’s 50 kilometres to Paris.
- 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.
- To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply. You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge
- To bet as a wager on an outcome; by extension, used to express belief in an outcome by the speaker. 'My fifty pounds says three months after the invasion there'll be a free press in Iraq, and unmonitored internet access too.'
Similar: blather, dictate, gab, report, say, speak, state, tell, utter, verbalize, voice, yak
noun says · saie · saye · seye · thay · zay
- A chance to speak; the right or power to influence or make a decision. The local government did not have much say in the matter.
adverb saie · saye · seye · thay · zay
- For example; let us assume. Pick a color you think they'd like, say, peach.
interjection saie · saye · seye · thay · zay
- Used to gain someone's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion Say, what did you think about the movie?
say²
- /seɪ/ US
- [seː] US
- /seɪ/ British, Southern, Standard
- [sɛj] British, Southern, Standard
- /seɪ/ UK
- /seɪ/ Canada
- [seː] Canada
Rhymes with -eɪ
Where it comes from
From Middle French saie, from Latin saga, plural of sagum (“military cloak”).
noun says
- A type of fine cloth similar to serge. Per.[igot] VVell decked in a frocke of gray, / Will.[y] hey ho, gray is greet, / Per. And in a kirtle of greene ſaye, / Will. the greene is for maydens meete.
say³
- /seɪ/ US
- [seː] US
- /seɪ/ British, Southern, Standard
- [sɛj] British, Southern, Standard
- /seɪ/ UK
- /seɪ/ Canada
- [seː] Canada
Rhymes with -eɪ
Where it comes from
Aphetic form of assay.
verb says · saying · sayed
- To try; to assay. I, that had sayed on one of his customers sutes.
Similar: blather, dictate, gab, report, say, speak, state, tell, utter, verbalize, voice, yak
noun says
- Trial by sample; assay; specimen. If those principal works of God […] be but certain tastes and says, as if were, of that final benefit.
- Tried quality; temper; proof. He found a sword of better say.
- Essay; trial; attempt. This fellow, Captaine, Will come, in time, to be a great distiller, And giue a say[…]at the philosophers stone.
say⁴
- /seɪ/ US
- [seː] US
- /seɪ/ British, Southern, Standard
- [sɛj] British, Southern, Standard
- /seɪ/ UK
- /seɪ/ Canada
- [seː] Canada
Rhymes with -eɪ
noun says
- A strainer for milk.
Say⁵
proper noun
- A surname.
