speech

speech [spēch]

n.

[ME speche < OE spæc, spræc < base of sprecan, to speak: see SPEAK]

1. the act of speaking; expression or communication of thoughts and feelings by spoken words

2. the power or ability to speak

3. the manner of speaking [her lisping speech]

4. that which is spoken; utterance, remark, statement, talk, conversation, etc.

5. a talk or address given to an audience

6. the language used by a certain group of people; dialect or tongue

7. the study of the theory and practice of oral expression and communication

8. Archaic rumor; report

SYN.- SPEECH is the general word for a discourse delivered to an audience, whether prepared or impromptu; ADDRESS implies a formal, carefully prepared speech and usually attributes importance to the speaker or the speech [an address to a legislature ]; ORATION suggests an eloquent, rhetorical, sometimes merely bombastic speech, esp. one delivered on some special occasion [political orations at the picnic ]; a LECTURE is a carefully prepared speech intended to inform or instruct the audience [a lecture to a college class ]; TALK suggests informality and is applied either to an impromptu speech or to an address or lecture in which the speaker deliberately uses a simple, conversational approach; a SERMON is a speech by a clergyman intended to give religious or moral instruction and usually based on Scriptural text