Wiktionary

say

See also: Appendix:Variations of "say"

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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.

Alternative forms

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Verb

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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.
    • 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 95:
      ‘All right,’ said Jessamy. ‘I say, Miss Brindle said she’d think about you coming to see the house some time. I said I was sure you weren’t the stone throwing kind, not at windows, I mean.’
    • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
      I want to say I’m sorry for yesterday. — It’s okay, Anna.
      Audio (US):(file)
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:say.
  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 […]
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:say.
  7. (intransitive) To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
  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.'
Conjugation
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Conjugation of say
infinitive (to) say
present tense past tense
1st-person singular say said
2nd-person singular say, sayest† said, saidst†
3rd-person singular says, sayeth†, saith† said
plural say
subjunctive say said
imperative say —
participles saying said

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms
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See also: Thesaurus:utter
Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

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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[1], 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[2], 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.
Translations
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Adverb

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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.
Translations
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Translations

Interjection

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say

  1. (US, colloquial) Used to gain someone's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion
    Say, what did you think about the movie?
Synonyms
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  • (used to gain attention): hey
Translations
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Translations

References

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Etymology 2

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

Noun

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say (countable and uncountable, plural says)

  2. A type of fine cloth similar to serge.

Etymology 3

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Aphetic form of assay.

Verb

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

  1. To try; to assay.

Noun

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say (plural says)

  1. Trial by sample; assay; specimen.
  2. Tried quality; temper; proof.
  3. Essay; trial; attempt.

Etymology 4

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Noun

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say (plural says)

  1. (Scotland) A strainer for milk.

Anagrams

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Azerbaijani

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Etymology 1

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Deverbal from saymaq.

Noun

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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)

Etymology 2

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From Proto-Turkic *say.

Noun

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say (definite accusative sayı, plural saylar)

  1. shallow, shoal
    gəmi saya oturdu ― the ship ran aground

Declension

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    Declension of say
singular plural
nominative say
 saylar
definite accusative sayı
 sayları
dative saya
 saylara
locative sayda
 saylarda
ablative saydan
 saylardan
definite genitive sayın
 sayların
    Possessive forms of say
nominative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) sayım saylarım
sənin (“your”) sayın sayların
onun (“his/her/its”) sayı sayları
bizim (“our”) sayımız saylarımız
sizin (“your”) sayınız saylarınız
onların (“their”) sayı or sayları sayları
accusative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) sayımı saylarımı
sənin (“your”) sayını saylarını
onun (“his/her/its”) sayını saylarını
bizim (“our”) sayımızı saylarımızı
sizin (“your”) sayınızı saylarınızı
onların (“their”) sayını or saylarını saylarını
dative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) sayıma saylarıma
sənin (“your”) sayına saylarına
onun (“his/her/its”) sayına saylarına
bizim (“our”) sayımıza saylarımıza
sizin (“your”) sayınıza saylarınıza
onların (“their”) sayına or saylarına saylarına
locative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) sayımda saylarımda
sənin (“your”) sayında saylarında
onun (“his/her/its”) sayında saylarında
bizim (“our”) sayımızda saylarımızda
sizin (“your”) sayınızda saylarınızda
onların (“their”) sayında or saylarında saylarında
ablative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) sayımdan saylarımdan
sənin (“your”) sayından saylarından
onun (“his/her/its”) sayından saylarından
bizim (“our”) sayımızdan saylarımızdan
sizin (“your”) sayınızdan saylarınızdan
onların (“their”) sayından or saylarından saylarından
genitive
singular plural
mənim (“my”) sayımın saylarımın
sənin (“your”) sayının saylarının
onun (“his/her/its”) sayının saylarının
bizim (“our”) sayımızın saylarımızın
sizin (“your”) sayınızın saylarınızın
onların (“their”) sayının or saylarının saylarının

Crimean Tatar

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Noun

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say

  1. shallow place, island

Declension

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Declension of say
nominative say
genitive saynıñ
dative sayğa
accusative saynı
locative sayda
ablative saydan

References

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  • Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎[3], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Middle English

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Noun

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say

  1. Alternative form of assay

Portuguese

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Verb

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say

  1. Obsolete spelling of sai.

Tatar

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Noun

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say

  1. area covered with stones

Turkish

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Verb

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say

  1. second-person singular imperative of saymak

Vietnamese

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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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

Derived terms

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Derived terms

Adverb

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say • (𫑹)

  1. deep ; fast (of sleep)
    ngủ say ― fast asleep
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=say&oldid=83044463"
  NODES
INTERN 2
Note 2
Verify 22