different between voice vs say

English

Alternative forms

• voyce (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v??s/
• Rhymes: -??s

Etymology 1

From Middle English voice, voys, vois, borrowed from Anglo-Norman voiz, voys, voice, Old French vois, voiz (Modern French voix), from Latin v?cem, accusative form of v?x (“voice”), from Proto-Indo-European *w?k?s, root noun from *wek?- (“to utter, speak”). Cognate with Sanskrit ???? (v?c), Ancient Greek ?? (óps), Persian ????? (âvâz). Displaced native Middle English steven (“voice”), from Old English stefn (see steven). Compare advocate, advowson, avouch, convoke, epic, vocal, vouch, vowel. Doublet of vox.

Noun

voice (plural voices)

1. Sound uttered by the mouth, especially by human beings in speech or song; sound thus uttered considered as possessing some special quality or character
2. (phonetics) Sound made through vibration of the vocal cords; sonant, or intonated, utterance; tone; — distinguished from mere breath sound as heard in whispering and voiceless consonants.
3. The tone or sound emitted by an object
   • 1712, Joseph Addison, Cato, a Tragedy

     O Marcus, I am warm’d; my heart Leaps at the trumpet’s voice.

4. The faculty or power of utterance

5. That which is communicated; message; meaning.
   • 17th century, John Fell, unknown work

     Let us call on God in the voice of his church.

6. An expressed opinion, choice, will, desire, or wish; the right or ability to make such expression or to have it considered
   • 1697, John Dryden, Aeneid

     Some laws ordain, and some attend the choice / Of holy senates, and elect by voice.

   • Like many of the 7 million other first time voters, she came of age during half a decade of military rule that has governed the country since former general turned Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha seized power in a 2014 coup. "We have had our voice taken away for five years," she says.

7. (archaic) Command; precept.
8. One who speaks; a speaker.
   • 1849, Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H.

     A potent voice of Parliament.

9. (literature) A particular style or way of writing that expresses a certain tone or feeling.
10. (grammar) A particular way of inflecting or conjugating verbs, or a particular form of a verb, by means of which is indicated the relation of the subject of the verb to the action which the verb expresses.
11. (music) In harmony, an independent vocal or instrumental part in a piece of composition.

12. (Internet, IRC) A flag associated with a user on a channel, determining whether or not they can send messages to the channel.

Synonyms

• (sound of human speech): steven, reard
• (opinion): steven, vote, say-so
• (voice of verbs): diathesis, gender (of verbs), grammatical voice, verbal voice

Derived terms

Translations

See voice/translations § Noun.

Etymology 2

From Middle English voysen, voicen, from the noun (see above).

Verb

voice (third-person singular simple present voices, present participle voicing, simple past and past participle voiced)

1. (transitive) To give utterance or expression to; to utter; to publish; to announce
   • 1893, Annie Wood Besant, An Autobiography

     How often he would voice his love of England, his admiration of her Parliament, his pride in her history.

   • 1612, Francis Bacon, Of Great Place

     Rather assume thy right in silence and […] then voice it with claims and challenges.

   • 1622, Francis Bacon, History of the Reign of King Henry VII

     It was voiced that the king purposed to put to death Edward Plantagenet.

2. (transitive, phonology) To utter audibly, with tone and not just breath.
3. (transitive) To fit for producing the proper sounds; to regulate the tone of

4. (transitive, obsolete) To vote; to elect; to appoint
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To clamor; to cry out
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of South to this entry?)
6. (transitive, Internet, IRC) To assign the voice flag to a user on IRC, permitting them to send messages to the channel.
7. (television, film) To act as a voice actor to portray a character.

Related terms

Translations

See voice/translations § Verb.

Middle English

Noun

voice

1. Alternative form of voys

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