different between show vs say

English

Alternative forms

• shew (archaic)
• shewe (obsolete)
• showe (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English schewen, schawen, scheawen, from Old English sc?awian (“to look, look at, exhibit, display”), from Proto-Germanic *skaww?n? (“to look, see”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh?- (“to heed, look, feel, take note of”); see haw, gaum, caveat, caution.

Cognate with Scots shaw (“to show”), Saterland Frisian scoe (“to look, behold”), Dutch schouwen (“to inspect, view”), German schauen (“to see, behold”), Danish skue (“to behold”), Icelandic skygna (“to spy, behold, see”). Related to sheen.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation): IPA^(key): /???/
• (General American): enPR: sh?, IPA^(key): /?o?/
• Rhymes: -??

Verb

show (third-person singular simple present shows, present participle showing, simple past showed or (archaic) shew, past participle shown or (now rare, US) showed)

1. (transitive) To display, to have somebody see (something).
2. (transitive) To bestow; to confer.

   to show mercy; to show favour; (dialectal) show me the salt please

3. (transitive) To indicate (a fact) to be true; to demonstrate.
   • 2018, VOA Learning English > China's Melting Glacier Brings Visitors, Adds to Climate Concerns

     A report this year in the Journal of Geophysical Research showed that the glacier has lost 60 percent of its mass.

4. (transitive) To guide or escort.

5. (intransitive) To be visible; to be seen; to appear.

   • Just such she shows before a rising storm.
6. (intransitive, informal) To put in an appearance; show up.

7. (intransitive, informal) To have an enlarged belly and thus be recognizable as pregnant.
8. (intransitive, racing) To finish third, especially of horses or dogs.

9. (obsolete) To have a certain appearance, such as well or ill, fit or unfit; to become or suit; to appear.

Usage notes

• The past participle shown was uncommon before the 19th century, but is now the preferred form in standard English. In the UK, showed is regarded as archaic or dialectal. In the US, it is considered a standard variant form, but shown is more common. Garner's Modern American Usage favors shown over showed as past participle and claims it is mandatory for passives.
• In the past, shew was used as a past-tense form and shewed as a past participle of this verb; both forms are now archaic.

Synonyms

• (display): display, indicate, point out, reveal, exhibit
• (indicate a fact to be true): demonstrate, prove
• (put in an appearance): arrive, show up

Antonyms

• (display): conceal, cover up, hide
• (indicate a fact to be true): disprove, refute

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• showcase
• showdown

Noun

show (countable and uncountable, plural shows)

1. (countable) A play, dance, or other entertainment.
2. (countable) An exhibition of items.

3. (countable) A broadcast program/programme.
   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Every day I do my morning show.

4. (countable) A movie.

5. (Australia, New Zealand, countable) An agricultural show.
6. A project or presentation.

   Let's get on with the show.   Let's get this show on the road.   They went on an international road show to sell the shares to investors.   It was Apple's usual dog and pony show.

7. (countable) A demonstration.

8. (uncountable) Mere display or pomp with no substance. (Usually seen in the phrases "all show" and "for show".)
   • 1728, Edward Young, The Love of Fame

     I envy none their pageantry and show.

9. Outward appearance; wileful or deceptive appearance.
   • 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act III Scene 2

     So may the outward shows be least themselves:

     The world is still deceived with ornament.

10. (baseball, with "the") The major leagues.

11. (mining, obsolete) A pale blue flame at the top of a candle flame, indicating the presence of firedamp.
12. (archaic) Pretence.
13. (archaic) Sign, token, or indication.
14. (obsolete) Semblance; likeness; appearance.

    • Beware of the scribes, […] which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers.
15. (obsolete) Plausibility.
16. (medicine) A discharge, from the vagina, of mucus streaked with blood, occurring a short time before labor.

Synonyms

• (exhibition): exhibition, exposition
• (demonstration): demonstration, illustration, proof
• (broadcast program(me)): program(me)
• (mere display with no substance): façade, front, superficiality
• (baseball): big leagues

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

• showman
• showpiece
• show-stopper
• show-stopping

References

Anagrams

• Hows, how's, hows, who's, whos

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English show.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?o?/
• Hyphenation: show

Noun

show m (plural shows, diminutive showtje n)

1. A show (entertainment).

Derived terms

• modeshow
• showbiz
• showen
• talkshow

Finnish

Etymology

From English show.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??ou?/, [??o?u?]
• IPA^(key): /??o?/, [??o??]
• IPA^(key): /?so?/, [?s?o??]

Noun

show

1. show (entertainment)

Usage notes

In plural usually substituted with a synonym, as the word does not easily fit into any Finnish declension category.

Declension

Compounds

• jääshow
• lavashow
• muotishow
• ravintolashow
• televisioshow
• valoshow

Synonyms

• esitys, näytös

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?o/

Noun

show m (plural shows)

1. (Anglicism) show

Hungarian

Etymology

From English show.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [??o?]
• Homophone: só
• Hyphenation: show
• Rhymes: -?o?

Noun

show (plural show-k)

1. show (entertainment, programme, production, performance)

Declension

References

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English show.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???/, /??u/
• Rhymes: -??, -?u

Noun

show n (definite singular showet, indefinite plural show, definite plural showa or showene)

1. a show (play, concert, entertainment)

Derived terms

• moteshow
• sceneshow

References

• “show” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English show.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???/, /??u/
• Rhymes: -??, -?u

Noun

show n (definite singular showet, indefinite plural show, definite plural showa)

1. a show (play, concert, entertainment)

Derived terms

• moteshow
• sceneshow

References

• “show” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• chou (rare), xou (rare)

Etymology

Borrowed from English show.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /??ow/

Noun

show m (plural shows)

1. show (a entertainment performance event)

   Synonyms: espetáculo, apresentação

   1. (especially) concert (musical presentation)
2. (slang) an act or performance that demonstrates high skill; spectacle; display; feat

3. (slang, often used in dar um show) the action of crying or yelling out loud in order to protest or complain about something, often in the context of a discussion or argument

Derived terms

• dar um show
• show de bola

Adjective

show (invariable, comparable)

1. (Brazil, slang) amazing; awesome

   Synonyms: espetacular, excelente, maravilhoso

Spanish

Etymology

From English show.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??ou/, [??ou?]

• IPA^(key): /?t??ou/, [?t??ou?]

• IPA^(key): /?sou/, [?sou?]

Noun

show m (plural shows)

1. show
2. (informal) a scandal
3. spectacle
4. an exhibition motivated action or thing

Swedish

Etymology

From English show.

Noun

show c

1. show; a play, dance, or other entertainment.

Declension

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