different between speech vs tact

English

Alternative forms

• speach (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English speche, from Old English sp??, spr?? (“speech, discourse, language”), from Proto-Germanic *spr?kij?, *spr?k? (“speech, language”), from Proto-Indo-European *spereg-, *spreg- (“to make a sound”). Cognate with Dutch spraak (“speech”), German Sprache (“language, speech”). More at speak.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?spi?t?/
• Rhymes: -i?t?

Noun

speech (countable and uncountable, plural speeches)

1. (uncountable) The faculty of uttering articulate sounds or words; the ability to speak or to use vocalizations to communicate.
2. (countable) A session of speaking, especially a long oral message given publicly by one person.

   Synonyms: monologue, oration, soliloquy

   • 1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Young Clergyman

     The constant design of both these orators, in all their speeches, was to drive some one particular point.
3. A style of speaking.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:speech
4. (grammar) Speech reported in writing; see direct speech, reported speech
5. A dialect or language.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:language
6. Talk; mention; rumour.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• speak

Translations

Verb

speech (third-person singular simple present speeches, present participle speeching, simple past and past participle speeched)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To make a speech; to harangue.
   • 1711, Jonathan Swift, An Excellent New Song

     I'll speech against peace while Dismal's my name, / And be a true whig, while I'm Not-in-game.

Derived terms

• bespeech

Anagrams

• cheeps

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English speech.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spit?/

Noun

speech m (plural speechen or speeches, diminutive speechje n)

1. speech, oration (oral monologic address of some length)

   redevoering (“toespraak”)

Derived terms

• speechen

Anagrams

• scheep

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spit?/

Noun

speech m (plural speechs)

1. An informal speech

Synonyms

• allocution

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin t?ctus. Sense “keen perception” developed in French tact.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tækt/
• Rhymes: -ækt

Noun

tact (countable and uncountable, plural tacts)

1. The sense of touch; feeling. [from 1650s]
   • 1829, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More; or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society

     Did you suppose that I could not make myself sensible to tact as well as sight?

   • 1881, Joseph LeConte, Sight: An Exposition on the Principles of Monocular and Binocular Vision

     Now, sight is a very refined tact.

2. (music) The stroke in beating time.
3. Sensitive mental touch; special skill or faculty; keen perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances; the ability to say the right thing. [from early 19th c.]

   Synonyms: sensitivity, consideration, diplomacy, tactfulness

4. (slang) Clipping of tactic.
   • 2006 "Block Party", Corner Gas

     Wanda "Hey, can you show us?"
     Karen "No"
     Brent "We promise not to make fun of you."
     Karen "No"
     Lacey "Okay, we promise TO make fun of you."
     Karen "I'm getting a drink"
     Lacey "I was trying a different tact."
     Wanda "Bad tack."

5. (psychology) A verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise).
   • 2013, Jacob L. Gewirtz, William M. Kurtines, Jacob L. Lamb, Intersections With Attachment

     Skinner (1957) saw such tacts as responses that are reinforced socially.

Derived terms

• tactful
• tactless

Translations

Verb

tact (third-person singular simple present tacts, present participle tacting, simple past and past participle tacted)

1. (psychology) To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).

Further reading

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

References

Anagrams

• Catt

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French tact.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?kt/
• Hyphenation: tact
• Rhymes: -?kt

Noun

tact m (uncountable)

1. tact, discernment

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tactus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /takt/

Noun

tact m (plural tacts)

1. tact

Related terms

• tactile

Further reading

• “tact” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).