speech (sp?ch)n.1. a. The faculty or act of speaking.b. The faculty or act of expressing or describing thoughts, feelings, or perceptions by the articulation of words.2. a. What is spoken or expressed, as in conversation; uttered or written words: seditious speech.b. A talk or public address, or a written copy of this: The senator gave a speech.3. a. The language or dialect of a nation or region: American speech.b. One’s manner or style of speaking: the mayor’s mumbling speech.4. The study of oral communication, speech sounds, and vocal physiology.[Middle English speche, from Old English spr?c, sp?c.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.speech (spi?t?) n1. (Linguistics) a. the act or faculty of speaking, esp as possessed by persons: to have speech with somebody. b. (as modifier): speech therapy. 2. that which is spoken; utterance3. a talk or address delivered to an audience4. a person’s characteristic manner of speaking5. (Linguistics) a national or regional language or dialect6. (Linguistics) linguistics another word for parole5[Old English sp?c; related to specan to speak]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014speech (spit?) n. 1. the faculty or power of speaking; ability to express one’s thoughts and emotions by speech sounds. 2. the act of speaking. 3. something that is spoken; an utterance. 4. a form of communication in spoken language, made by a speaker before an audience. 5. any single utterance of an actor in the course of a play, film, etc. 6. the form of utterance characteristic of a particular people or region; a language or dialect. 7. manner of speaking, as of a person. 8. a field of study devoted to the theory and practice of oral communication. 9. any public form of expression, as spoken or written language, visual depictions, or expressive actions. Compare freedom of speech. 10. Archaic. rumor. [before 900; Middle English speche, Old English sp?c, variant of spr?c, derivative of sprecan to speak] syn: speech, address, oration, harangue are terms for a communication to an audience. speech is the general word, with no implication of kind or length, or whether planned or not. An address is a rather formal, planned speech, appropriate to a particular subject or occasion. An oration is a polished, rhetorical address, given usu. on a notable occasion, that employs eloquence and studied methods of delivery. A harangue is an impassioned, vehement speech intended to arouse strong feeling and sometimes to lead to mob action. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.SpeechSee also language; pronunciation; rhetoric and rhetorical devices; sound. acyrology1. an incorrectness in diction.2. cacology. ? acyrological, adj.alogy, alogiaMedicine. an inability to speak, especially as the result of a brain lesion.aphasiaPathology. an impairment or loss of the faculty of understanding or using spoken or written language. ? aphasiac, n. ? aphasic, n., adj.aphonia, aphonyloss of the power of speech; dumbness. ? aphonic, ? apho-nous, adj.aphrasialoss or absence of the power of speech.biloquismthe ability to speak in two distinct voices. ? biloquist, n.cacology1. a defectively produced speech.2. socially unacceptable enunciation.3. nonconformist pronunciation.deafmutismthe condition of lacking both hearing and speech. Also called surdomutism. ? deafmute, n.dyslogy, dyslogiaPathology. an inability to express ideas or reasoning in speech because of a mental disorder.dysphasiaan impaired state of the power of speech or of the ability to comprehend language, caused by injury to the brain.dysphemiaany neurotic disorder of speech; stammering.dysphoniaspeech problems resulting from damage to or malformation of the speech organs.echolaliathe uncontrollable and immediate repetition of sounds and words heard from others. ? echolalic, adj.elocution1. the art of public speaking.2. the manner or quality of a person?s speech. ? elocutionist, n.galimatiasconfused or unintelligible speech; gibberish.glossographan instrument for recording the movements of the tongue during speech.glossolaliaan ecstatic, usually unintelligible speech uttered in the worship services of any of several sects stressing emotionality and religious fervor. Also called speaking in tongues. ? glossolalist, n.glossophobiaan abnormal fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak.gutturalisma throaty manner of speaking.hyperphasiaa condition in which control of the speech organs is lost, resulting in meaningless and deranged speech.labialisma tendency to articulate sounds with the lips rounded.lalomaniaan abnormal love of speech or talking.lalopathologythe branch of medical science that studies disorders of speech. ? lalopathy, n. ? lalopathic, adj.lalophobiaan abnormal fear of speaking.logopedia, logopaediaPathology. the science that studies speech defects and their treatment. Also logopedics, logopaedics. ? logopedie, logopaedic, adj.mogilaliaa pathological speech problem, as stammering.mutismPsychiatry. a conscious or unconscious refusal to make verbal responses to questions, present in some mental disorders.neolaliaany speech that contains new words unintelligible to a hearer. See also psychology.obmutescenceObsolete, loss of speech or the act of keeping silence.paralaliaa speech defect or disorder in which sounds are distorted.paralogiaa disorder of the faculty of reasoning, characterized by discon-nected and meaningless speech.paraphasiaaphasia characterized by the inability to find the correct words to express meaning.paraphrasiagarbled or incoherent speech, the result of aphasia.pectoriloquism, pectoriloquyspeaking from the chest, a phenomenon observed with a stethoscope and caused by the voice reverberating in the lung cavities as a result of disease. ? pectoriloquial, pectoriloquous, adj.psellismthe condition of stuttering or stammering.psittacisma mechanical, repetitive, and usually meaningless speech.surdomutismdeafmutism. ? surdomute, n.susurration1. the act or process of whispering.2. a whispering sound or soft rustling. Also susurrus. ? susurrant, susurrous, adj.tachyphrasiaan abnormality of speech characterized by extreme volubility.tautophonyrepetition of the same sound. ? tautophonic, tautophonical, adj.traulisma stammering and stuttering speech.ventrilocutionventriloquism.ventriloquismthe art or practice of speaking so that the voice seems not to come from the speaker but from another source, as from a mechanical doll. Also called ventriloquy, ventrilocution, gastriloquism. ? ventriloquist, n. ? ven-triloquistic, adj.verbigerationmeaningless repetition of words and phrases.-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.speech – talkIf you make a speech or give a talk, you speak for a period of time to an audience, usually saying things which you have prepared in advance.A speech is made on a formal occasion, for example at a dinner, wedding, or public meeting.A talk is more informal, and is intended to give information.