talk
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talk¹
- /tɔːk/ UK
- [tʰoːk] British, Multicultural London English, Southern, Standard
- /tɔk/ Scotland
- /taːk/ Northumbria
- /tɔk/ US
- /tɑk/ US, cot caught merger, dialectal
- [tʰɑk] US, cot caught merger, dialectal
- [tʰäk] US, cot caught merger, dialectal
- /tɔʊ̯k/
- /tɒk/ Canada, dialectal
- /toːk/ Australia, New Zealand
Sounds like torc, torq, torque (all non-rhotic), tock (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɔːk
Where it comes from
From Middle English talken, talkien, from Old English *tealcian (“to talk, chat”), from Proto-West Germanic *talkōn, from Proto-Germanic *talkōną (“to talk, chatter”), frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *talōną (“to count, recount, tell”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol-, *del- (“to aim, calculate, adjust, count”), equivalent to tell + -k.
Cognates
Cognate with Low German taalken (“to chatter, gossip, talk”). Related also to Bavarian zoin (“to pay”), Cimbrian zaln (“to pay”), Dutch talen (“to care, long; to speak; to say”), German zahlen (“to pay”), Mòcheno zoln (“to pay”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål tale (“to talk, speak”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish tala (“to speak, talk”), Norwegian Nynorsk tala (“to speak, talk”); also Latin dolus (“deceit, deception, fraud, guile, treachery, trickery; malice; artifice, device, stratagem”), Ancient Greek δόλος (dólos, “deceit, trick; wiles; bait”), Armenian տող (toġ, “line (in a text)”). More at tale. Despite the surface similarity, unrelated to Proto-Indo-European *telkʷ- (“to talk”) (due to Grimm's law), which is the source of loquacious.
verb talks · talking · talked · talk
- To communicate, usually by means of speech. Let's sit down and talk.
- To discuss; to talk about. They sat down to talk business.
- To speak (a certain language). We talk French sometimes.
- Used to emphasise the importance, size, complexity etc. of the thing mentioned. Are you interested in the job? They're talking big money.
- To confess, especially implicating others. Suppose he talks?
- To criticize someone for something of which one is guilty oneself. I am not the one to talk.
- To gossip; to create scandal. People will talk.
- To manifest outwardly in speech, as opposed to reality or action. Remember that Christ and Christianity may not always be the same thing; e.g. Jerry Falwell talks "Christianity" but practices hatred […] which is diametrically opposed to what Jesus really taught.
- To influence someone to express something, especially a particular stance or viewpoint or in a particular manner. That's not like you at all, Jared. The drugs are talking. Snap out of it!
Similar: chat, communicate, dictate, klatch, let on, make known, orate, say, speak, speechify, tell, write up
talk²
- /tɔːk/ UK
- [tʰoːk] British, Multicultural London English, Southern, Standard
- /tɔk/ Scotland
- /taːk/ Northumbria
- /tɔk/ US
- /tɑk/ US, cot caught merger, dialectal
- [tʰɑk] US, cot caught merger, dialectal
- [tʰäk] US, cot caught merger, dialectal
- /tɔʊ̯k/
- /tɒk/ Canada, dialectal
- /toːk/ Australia, New Zealand
Sounds like torc, torq, torque (all non-rhotic), tock (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɔːk
Where it comes from
From Middle English talk, talke (“conversation; discourse”), from the verb (see above).
noun talks
- A conversation or discussion; usually serious, but informal. We need to have a talk about your homework.
- A lecture. There is a talk on Shakespeare tonight.
- Gossip; rumour. There's been talk lately about the two of them.
- A major topic of social discussion. She is the talk of the day.
- A customary conversation in which parent(s) explain sexual intercourse to their child. Have you had the talk with Jay yet? I found a condom in his room.
- A customary conversation in which the parent(s) of a black child explain the racism and violence they may face, especially when interacting with police, and strategies to manage it. Later, I made sure to have the talk with my son about being a black boy, […]
- Empty boasting, promises or claims. The party leader's speech was all talk.
- Meeting to discuss a particular matter. The leaders of the G8 nations are currently in talks over nuclear weapons.
Similar: blabber, blather, conversation, discussion, gossip, prattle, speech, talk
