different between say vs greet

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?, IPA^(key): /se?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Etymology 1

From Middle English seyen, seien, seggen, from Old English se??an (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjan? (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sok?-h?-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sek?- (“to tell, talk”).

Cognate with West Frisian sizze (“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”).

The adverb and interjection are from the verb.

Alternative forms

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

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To pronounce.

2. (transitive) To recite.
3. (transitive) To tell, either verbally or in writing.
   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

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

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

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.
   • 1815, George Gordon Byron, The Hebrew Melodies/They say that Hope is happiness:

     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.

   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.
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.

Conjugation

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

say (plural says)

1. A chance to speak; the right or power to influence or make a decision.

Translations

Adverb

say (not comparable)

1. For example; let us assume.

Interjection

say

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

Synonyms

• (used to gain attention): hey

References

• say in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• say in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Etymology 2

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

Noun

say (countable and uncountable, plural says)

1. A type of fine cloth similar to serge.

Etymology 3

Aphetic form of assay.

Verb

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

1. To try; to assay.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)

Noun

say (plural says)

1. Trial by sample; assay; specimen.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, page 193

     If those principal works of God […] be but certain tastes and says, as if were, of that final benefit.
2. Tried quality; temper; proof.
3. Essay; trial; attempt.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)

Etymology 4

Noun

say (plural says)

1. (Scotland) A strainer for milk.

Anagrams

• AYs, ays, yas

Azerbaijani

Etymology 1

Deverbal of saymaq.

Noun

say (definite accusative say?, plural saylar)

1. number, quantity, count

   Synonyms: ?d?d, r?q?m

2. (grammar) numeral
3. (colloquial) value, importance

Etymology 2

From Proto-Turkic *say.

Noun

say (definite accusative say?, plural saylar)

1. shallow, shoal

Declension

Crimean Tatar

Noun

say

1. shallow place, island

Declension

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajins?ko-kryms?kotatars?kyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]?^[4], Simferopol: Dolya, ?ISBN

Middle English

Noun

say

1. Alternative form of assay

Portuguese

Verb

say

1. Obsolete spelling of sai

Tatar

Noun

say

1. area covered with stones

Turkish

Verb

say

1. second-person singular imperative of saymak

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *p-ri? (“drunk”); cognate with Muong khay, Arem p?r??.

Pronunciation

• (Hà N?i) IPA^(key): [saj??]
• (Hu?) IPA^(key): [?aj??]
• (H? Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [?a(?)j??] ~ [sa(?)j??]

Verb

say • (????)

1. to be drunk; to be inebriated
2. (by extension) to be (car, sea, etc.) sick
3. (figuratively) to be enamoured of; to take a deep interest in

Derived terms

Adjective

say

1. deep (of sleep); fast asleep

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??i?t/
• Rhymes: -i?t

Etymology 1

From Middle English greten, from Old English gr?tan, from Proto-Germanic *gr?tijan?.

Verb

greet (third-person singular simple present greets, present participle greeting, simple past and past participle greeted)

1. (transitive) To welcome in a friendly manner, either in person or through another means such as writing.
   • 1591, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act III, scene 1

     My lord, the mayor of London comes to greet you.

   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     Warwick observed, as they passed through the respectable quarter, that few people who met the girl greeted her, and that some others whom she passed at gates or doorways gave her no sign of recognition; from which he inferred that she was possibly a visitor in the town and not well acquainted.

2. (transitive) To arrive at or reach, or meet.
   • 1707, Joseph Addison, Rosamond, Act I, scene 4

     In vain the spring my senses greets.

   • 2009, Loren Long, ?Phil Bildner, Magic in the Outfield (page 47)

     Way deep in left field, where the carpet of green sloped upward to a terrace and greeted the thick line of trees, he reached out his glove.

3. (transitive) To accost; to address.
   • 1725, Alexander Pope translating Homer, Odyssey

     Fair on his feet the polish'd sandals shine,
     And thus he greets the master of the swine:

4. (intransitive, archaic) To meet and give salutations.
   • circa 1590, William Shakespeare, Titus Adronicus, Act I, scene 2, line 90

     There greet in silence, as the dead are wont, And sleep in peace.

5. (transitive) To be perceived by (somebody).

Conjugation

Derived terms

• greeter
• meet-and-greet
• regreet

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English greet, grete (“great”).

Adjective

greet (comparative more greet, superlative most greet)

1. (obsolete outside Scotland) Great.

Etymology 3

From a blend of two Old English verbs, gr?tan, gr?tan (itself from Proto-Germanic *gr?tan?); and of Old English gr?otan (itself from Proto-Germanic *greutan?), both meaning "to weep, lament".

Verb

greet (third-person singular simple present greets, present participle greeting, simple past and past participle greeted or grat or grutten)

2. (Scotland, Northern England) To weep; to cry.
   • 1933, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Cloud Howe, Polygon 2006 (A Scots Quair), page 312:

     And damn't! if he didn't take down her bit things and scone her so sore she grat like a bairn [...].

   • 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, page 2:

     My maw went potty and started greeting.

Related terms

• regret

Noun

greet (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Mourning, weeping, lamentation.

Further reading

• Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, ?ISBN
• Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
• greet in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Geter, egret, reget

Middle English

Alternative forms

• grete

Etymology

From Old English gr?at, in turn from Proto-Germanic *grautaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?r??t/

Adjective

greet (plural and weak singular greete, comparative greter, superlative gretest)

1. great (large, significant)

Descendants

• English: great
  • ? Welsh: grêt
• Scots: great, greet, grete, greit

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?rit/

Etymology 1

From a blend of two Old English verbs, gr?tan (cognate with Swedish gråta', Danish græde) and gr?otan (of uncertain ultimate origin), both ‘weep, lament’.

Verb

greet (third-person singular present greets, present participle greetin, past grat or grettit, past participle grutten)

1. to weep, lament

Noun

greet (uncountable)

1. cry, lamentation

Etymology 2

Adjective

greet (comparative greeter, superlative greetest)

1. Alternative form of great