say

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: sā, IPA^(key): /seɪ/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

From Middle English seyen, seien, seggen, from Old English seċġan (“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 tell, talk”).

Cognate with West Frisian sizze (“to say”), Low German seggen (“to say”), Dutch zeggen (“to say”), German sagen (“to say”), Danish sige (“to say”), Norwegian Bokmål si (“to say”), Norwegian Nynorsk seia (“to say”), Swedish säga (“to say”), Yiddish זאָגן (zogn, “to say; to tell”).

The adverb and interjection are from the verb.

• saie, saye, seye (obsolete)
• thay, zay (pronunciation spelling)

say (third-person singular simple present says, present participle saying, simple past and past participle said)

1. (transitive) To pronounce.

   Please say your name slowly and clearly.

2. (transitive) To recite.

   Martha, will you say the Pledge of Allegiance?

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 53-54:

     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. (transitive) To tell, either verbally or in writing.

   He said he would be here tomorrow.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:

     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.

   • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

     She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     I want to say I’m sorry for yesterday. — It’s okay, Anna.

     Audio (US)

     (file)

4. (transitive) To indicate in a written form.

   The sign says it’s 50 kilometres to Paris.

5. (impersonal, transitive) 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."

   • 1815, George Gordon Byron, “They say that Hope is happiness”, in The Hebrew Melodies:

     They say that Hope is happiness; But genuine Love must prize the past.

   • 1819, Great Britain Court of Chancery, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery, page 8:

     It is said, a bargain cannot be set aside upon inadequacy only.

   • 1841, Christopher Marshall, The Knickerbocker (New-York Monthly Magazine), page 379:

     It’s said that fifteen wagon loads of ready-made clothes for the Virginia troops came to, and stay in, town to-night.

6. (informal, imperative, transitive) Suppose, assume; used to mark an example, supposition or hypothesis.

   A holiday somewhere warm – Florida, say – would be nice.

   Say he refuses. What do we do then?

   Say your family is starving and you don't have any money, is it okay to steal some food?

   • 1984, Martin Amis, Money: a suicide note:

     I've followed Selina down the strip, when we're shopping, say, and she strolls on ahead, wearing sawn-off jeans and a wash-withered T-shirt […]

7. (intransitive) To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
   • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 195:

     You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge

   • 1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC, page 63:

     To this argument we shall soon have said; for what concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household privacies?

8. (transitive, informal, of a possession, especially money) To bet as a wager on an outcome; by extension, used to express belief in an outcome by the speaker.
   • 2005, Ian McEwan, Saturday, page 192:

     'My fifty pounds says three months after the invasion there'll be a free press in Iraq, and unmonitored internet access too.'

say (plural says)

1. A chance to speak; the right or power to influence or make a decision.
   • 2004, Richard Rogers, Information politics on the Web:

     Above all, however, we would like to think that there is more to be decided, after the engines and after the humans have had their says.

   • 2019 February 8, Kocha Olarn, Helen Regan, “This princess could be the next prime minister of Thailand”, in CNN International Edition‎, Cable News Network, retrieved 2019-02-08:

     He has consolidated the military's role in politics through an army-drafted 2017 constitution widely seen as designed to prevent Pheu Thai from returning to power and ensuring a continuing say for the army.

   • 2019 March 22, Patpicha Tanakasempipat, Panarat Thepgumpanat, “Junta chief croons, ousted PM says 'we will win' in Thai election battle”, in Reuters‎, Reuters, retrieved 2019-03-23:

     Sunday’s general election has been cast as a high-stakes contest between democracy and military rule, but critics say a new army-backed constitution gives junta-appointed officials a large say in the next government.

say (not comparable)

1. 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.

   • 1894, T Miller, “Chapter 1”, in Over Five Seas and Oceans, From New York to Bangkok, Siam, and Return, New York: Albert Metz & Co., page 13:

     He was a very old man, and was heavy, say about 250 pounds.

say

1. (colloquial) Used to gain someone's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion

   Say, what did you think about the movie?

• (used to gain attention): hey

• “say”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “say”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

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

say (countable and uncountable, plural says)

1. A type of fine cloth similar to serge.
   • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “August. Ægloga Octaua.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC; republished as The Shepheardes Calender […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], 1586, →OCLC, folio 32, recto:

     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.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 53:

     All in a kirtle of diſcolourd ſay / He clothed was […]

Aphetic form of assay.

say (third-person singular simple present says, present participle saying, simple past and past participle sayed)

1. To try; to assay.
   • 1600 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i:

     I, that had sayed on one of his customers sutes.

say (plural says)

1. Trial by sample; assay; specimen.
   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
     , page 193

     If those principal works of God […] be but certain tastes and says, as if were, of that final benefit.

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 308:

     Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes.

2. Tried quality; temper; proof.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 47, page 505:

     He found a sword of better say.

3. Essay; trial; attempt.
   • 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire: The Scolar Press, 1970, →OCLC, (please specify the GB page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     This fellow, Captaine, Will come, in time, to be a great distiller, And giue a say […] at the philosophers stone.

say (plural says)

1. (Scotland) A strainer for milk.

• AYs, ays, yas

Deverbal from saymaq.

say (definite accusative sayı, plural saylar)

1. number, quantity, count

   Synonyms: ədəd, rəqəm

   Qonaqların sayı iyirmidən çox olsa, otağa yerləşməzlər.

   If the number of guests exceeds twenty, they won't fit in to the room.

2. (grammar) numeral
3. (colloquial) value, importance
4. issue (of a newspaper or periodical)

From Proto-Turkic *say.

say (definite accusative sayı, plural saylar)

1. shallow, shoal

   gəmi saya oturdu ― the ship ran aground

say

1. shallow place, island

• Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎, Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

say

1. Alternative form of assay

say

1. Obsolete spelling of sai

say

1. area covered with stones

say

1. second-person singular imperative of saymak

From Proto-Vietic *p-riː (“drunk”); cognate with Muong khay, Arem pərɪː.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [saj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂaj˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʂa(ː)j˧˧] ~ [sa(ː)j˧˧]

say • (𫑹)

1. drunk; intoxicated; inebriated

   Synonym: xỉn

2. suffering motion sickness

   say tàu/xe/sóng ― trainsick/carsick/seasick

3. (literary) engrossed, especially in love

   say tình ― madly in love; enamored

say • (𫑹)

1. deep ; fast (of sleep)

   ngủ say ― fast asleep