speakern.
/ˈspiːkə/, U.S. /ˈspikər/ 1.
a. One who speaks or talks.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > one who speaks > [noun]
mathelereOE
mouthOE
speaker1303
sayer1340
outera1415
utterer1509
handler1534
trumpet1549
discourser1564
deliverer1580
linguist1612
vocalist1613
sermocinator1623
sermocinatrix1623
articulator1651
worder1654
voice1667
stringer1774
tonguer1822
vocalizer1830
locutor1858
outspeaker1858
speaker-hearer1965
speaker-listener1965
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 8291 Þe foule wurde þe speker dereþ.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Ezek. ii. 1 Y herde the vois of a spekere.
1485 W. Caxton tr. Thystorye & Lyf Charles the Grete sig. biijv/2 Whan one spake to hym, he remembred the manere for to compryse thentencyon of the spekar.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 5085 In speche may men spie the speker to know.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes ii. f. 260v It was laied..against hym, that he was a speaker of eiuill by Cæsar.
1565 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 394 Thair Majesteis sall require the spekar and delatar to gif his complaint or narratioun in writt.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. iii. 176 Malc. What's the newest griefe? Rosse. That of an houres age, doth hisse the speaker . View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxvi. 222 It may bee understood sometimes of the Speaker.
1725 I. Watts Logick i. iv. §3 It implies both the Falshood of the Speech, and my Reproach and Censure of the Speaker.
1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 158 All speakers, yet all language at a loss.
1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic vii. 162 The real speaker was a full grown woman.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola II. xx. 252 She started up with anger in her eyes, and faced the speaker.
b. spec. One who speaks formally before a number of persons; one who addresses an audience; an orator.
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the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > one who makes a speech or speeches
ditera1387
fair speakera1398
speakerc1400
pronouncer?a1425
orator?a1439
oratrice1565
oratress1587
rhetor1588
oratrix?1592
tongue-man1594
tonguesman1596
public speaker1646
holder-forth1661
tub-minister1662
spokesman1663
addresser1665
tub-drubbera1704
speech-maker1710
speecher1762
orationer1765
speechifiera1777
mob-orator1814
perorator1827
elocutionist1847
tub-orator1849
spokester1850
patterer1851
platformer1851
oratist1860
stem-winder1875
addressor1897
pep talker1925
c1400 New Test. (Paues) Acts xiv. 11 Þei called..Poule Mercurye, for he was ledar ande spekar of þo worde.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxxxii. 254 ‘Syr,’ quod Gaulter, who was ye fyrst speker, ‘me thynke he can scape none other wyse.’
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) v. ii. 159 What? a speaker is but a prater, a Ryme is but a Ballad. View more context for this quotation
1780 Mirror No. 102 Some of our public speakers.
a1831 R. Whately Rhetoric in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 262/1 The sentiments..which it is so important that the audience should feel towards the Speaker.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xxii. 744 He..had scarcely taken his seat when he attained a high place among parliamentary speakers.
1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn I. xvii. 145 When the speaker's voice ceased, a burst of applause came from the lips of the hearers.
2. With distinguishing adjectives:
a. Denoting moral character, tendency to talk, or manner of speaking, as evil, fair, false, great, hasty, short, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > one who speaks > [noun] > in specific ways
speakera1340
breatherc1384
boasterc1400
rattlerc1449
brawler1581
shredder1592
venter1611
speak-truth1614
ranter1649
bawler1656
yelper1673
mouther1746
spouter1759
oralist1867
mushmouth1868
loudmouth1870
megaphonist1906
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xxvi. 18 A wickid spekere delited is in his leghe.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Job xvi. 9 A fals spekere is reisid aȝens my face.
a1450 tr. De Imitatione ii. i. 41 Crist had aduersaries & suffrid shreude spekers.
1483 Cath. Angl. 353/2 A schort Speker, micrologus. A grete Speker,..grandiloquus.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Riiiv/1 Great speaker, loquax.
1611 Bible (King James) Psalms cxl. 11 Let not an euill speaker bee established in the earth. View more context for this quotation
1656 T. Blount Glossographia at Sphinx His unarticulate voice like that of a hasty speaker.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 66 The modest speaker is asham'd and griev'd T'engross a moment's notice.
b. Denoting ability (or the want of it) in the use of speech.See also fair speaker n.
ΚΠ
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 141 Þat was a noble spekere in all manere tonges of witt and of wisdom, and cheef spekere wiþ tonge.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 236 A passand fayr man & a riche, & ane eloquent speker.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 3806 A freike þat was fre, and a feire speiker.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. ii. 112 The Gentleman is Learn'd, and a most rare Speaker . View more context for this quotation
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xix. 86 Unruly Murmurs, or ill-tim'd Applause, Wrong the best Speaker, and the justest Cause.
1778 F. Burney Evelina III. xvi. 176 We of the lower House..have likewise the most able speakers.
1831 J. Sinclair Corr. II. 108 The Count de Villele was not only an able speaker, but a real statesman.
1865 C. Dickens Let. 18 Jan. (1938) III. 456 Almost the worst speaker I ever heard in my life.
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems xlix. 1 Greatest speaker of any born a Roman, Marcus Tullius.
3. figurative.1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall sig. B The chiefe actor in the pageant of my braine, and high speaker in the Parlament of my deuise.1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. i. 243 The Speaker in his parliament,..th'imagine voice of God himselfe. View more context for this quotation
a. The member of the House of Commons who is chosen by the House itself to act as its representative and to preside over its debates. Also called Mr. Speaker and †Speaker-forth.In 1376–7 Sir Thomas de Hungerford, apparently the first person formally mentioned as holding the office, ‘avoit les paroles pur les Communes d'Engleterre en cest Parlement’ ( Rolls of Parl. II. 374/1).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > Member of Parliament > speaker of Commons
procurator of parliament1399
speakerc1400
Speaker of (the) Parliamenta1464
First Commoner1759
c1400 Brut 330 Þis same Piers was chosen to be speker for the communes in þe parlement.
1414 Rolls of Parl. IV. 22 The sentence & the entente axked by the Speker mouthe.
c1435 in C. L. Kingsford Chron. London (1905) 50 Sir John Cheyne excusid him ffor the Speker fforth ffor the Comvnes, ffor dyuers Infirmites..that he hadde.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. cxxiiv Wherfore the sayde Commons prayed the mouth of theyr speker..that the sayde persones with other myght be remoued from the kyng.
1583 Sir T. Smith's De Republica Anglorum ii. ii. 40 The speakers office is as brieflie and as plainely as he may to declare the effect thereof to the house.
1641 King's Speech to Parl. 2 Dec. It is no ways in Answer to Master Speakers learned Speech.
a1675 B. Whitelocke Memorials Eng. Affairs (1682) anno 1641 50/1 [The king] himself entred into the House; at which the Speaker rose out of his Chair, and stood below.
1707 J. Chamberlayne Present State Great Brit. (1708) i. ii. 114 Before the choice of a Speaker, all the Members of the House of Commons take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy.
1787 Johnson's Deb. Parl. II. i. 4 The new House of Commons being met, the Usher came from the House of Lords, with His Majesty's commands for their immediate attendance, when they were ordered to chuse a Speaker.
1818 Parl. Deb. 1st Ser. 16 On a message from the lords, Mr. Speaker and several members attended to hear the speech of the lords commissioners read by the Lord Chancellor.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 274/2 As yet he is only Speaker elect, and as such presents himself on the following day, in the house of lords.
1901 L. H. Courtney Working Constit. U.K. 90 If any vacancy occurs whilst Parliament is in existence, a writ is issued by Mr. Speaker.
b. More fully in Speaker of (the) Parliament.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > Member of Parliament > speaker of Commons
procurator of parliament1399
speakerc1400
Speaker of (the) Parliamenta1464
First Commoner1759
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 180 It was answerd be Petir de la Mar, knyte, and speker of þe parlement.
a1500 ( Bale's Chron. in R. Flenley Six Town Chron. (1911) 136 And the comones chosen Sir William Oldhall Knight wt þe duk of york speker of the parliament.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Demiurgus,..an officer that proposed all thinges to the people whervpon they should intreate: as the speaker of the parliament amonge vs.
1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Speaker of the Parliament, an Officer in that High Court, who is as it were the common mouth of all the rest.
c. The presiding officer or chairman of the House of Lords, now the Lord Chancellor, or one acting as his deputy or substitute. Also †Lord Speaker.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > Member of Parliament > speaker of Lords
speaker1660
1660 S. Pepys Diary 26 Apr. (1970) I. 115 I hear that about twelve of the Lords met and have chosen my Lord of Manchester Speaker of the House of Lords.
1688 G. Miege Great French Dict. ii. sig. Rrr3/2 The one [is] termed the Lord Speaker of the House of Peers, and the other the Speaker of the House of Commons.
1707 J. Chamberlayne Present State Great Brit. (1710) 96 The Lord Chancellor or Keeper (who usually is Speaker of the House of Lords).
1797 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 761/2 The speaker of the house of lords..is the lord chancellor,..or any other appointed by the king's commission [etc.].
1867 Chambers's Encycl. IX. 24/2 The Speaker of the Lords may speak or vote on any question.
1891 Law Times 92 123/2 The Lord Chancellor need not be a member of the House of Lords of which he is the Speaker.
d. A similar president in other assemblies.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > [noun] > president or chairperson of
presidenta1382
prolocutor1570
moderator1573
spokesman1607
committee chair1643
chairman1654
referendary1655
speaker1656
chair1659
convener1681
chairperson1971
1656 T. Blount Glossographia at Proloquutor The Speaker or Chair-man of each Convocation-house, or of a Synod, is so termed.
a1690 S. Jeake Charters Cinque Ports (1728) Annot. 91 In both these Courts,..the Head Officer..sits as Chief, and is called in Speeches addressed to him Mr. Speaker.
1789 Constit. U.S. i. §2 The house of representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers.
4. One who speaks in place of, or on behalf of, another or others.
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society > authority > delegated authority > one having delegated or derived authority > [noun] > one who speaks for or on behalf of another
whistlec1380
dictourc1440
orator1474
prolocutor?a1475
prelocutor1500
vauntparler1534
paranympha1538
mouth1563
speech1578
speaker1583
promotor1603
ambassador1611
suffragant1613
suffragator1618
mouthpiece1776
linguist1819
megaphone1909
porte-parole1911
spokesperson1972
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. Gi Princes you know in parliament houses haue their speakers, to declare their pleasures, and ease themselues.
1782 J. Brown Compend. View Nat. & Revealed Relig. ii. ii. 152 He is the great Speaker for us to God, in his antient engagements and his continual intercession.
5. One who proclaims or celebrates. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > announcing or proclaiming > [noun] > announcer or proclaimer
teller1340
professora1387
trumpet1447
blazerc1450
denouncer1490
trump1531
ebuccinator1542
declarer1548
proclaimer1548
announcer?1549
trumpet1549
trumpeter1581
blazoner1603
speaker1623
proclamator1650
annunciator1696
proclaimant1837
tooter1863
spruiker1893
spieler1894
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iv. ii. 70 After my death, I wish..No other speaker of my liuing Actions,..But such an honest Chronicler as Griffith. View more context for this quotation
6. As a title of books containing pieces adapted for recitation or reading aloud.
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the mind > language > speech > speech-making > recitation > [noun] > something to be recited or read aloud
lurryc1580
reciter1760
speaker1774
piece1822
speech1886
1774 W. Enfield (title) The Speaker; or, miscellaneous Pieces, selected from the best English Writers.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Speaker,..a book for school-reading.
1879 Webster's Dict. Suppl. Speaker, a book containing selected pieces for declamation. (U.S.)
7. As second element: One who speaks a particular language.
ΚΠ
1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth Lang. iv. 72 The difficulty is one which English-speakers can hardly realize.
1899 Daily News 2 Oct. 6/4 A population of industrial English-speakers;..a population of pastoral Dutch-speakers.
8. = loudspeaker n.
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the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > audibility > sound magnification or reproduction > [noun] > loud speaker
loudspeaker1884
speaker1926
condenser loudspeaker1929
monitor1931
tweeter1934
woofer1935
squawk box1945
ionophone1952
monitor speaker1954
mid-range1955
squawker1959
subwoofer1975
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > sound recording or reproducing equipment > [noun] > loudspeaker
speaker1926
horn speaker1928
squawker1959
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > other musical instruments > [noun] > electronic > other electronic equipment
amplifier1914
speaker1926
cardioid1939
amp1945
boom box1981
ghetto blaster1983
trigger1986
1926 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 202 436 This speaker employs a six-inch cone driven by an electromagnetic power unit.
1954 R. Dahl Someone like You 66 Maybe the great radio engineer doesn't know how to connect the mike to the speaker?
1978 Hi-Fi News Sept. 15 (advt.) High Fidelity speakers for the discerning ear.
Compounds
C1. General attributive. (In sense 8.)
speaker grille n.
ΚΠ
1979 P. Way Sunrise iv. 44 There was a bell push and a speaker-grille just above it.
speaker system n.
ΚΠ
1973 C. Himes Black on Black 172 A speaker system was installed to throw his powerful voice even farther.
1974 Times 4 Mar. 1/8 At about 4.40 pm the hijacker in the cockpit announced over the speaker system that the aircraft would be landing at Amsterdam.
C2.
speaker-hearer n. a person regarded as a user of language.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > one who speaks > [noun]
mathelereOE
mouthOE
speaker1303
sayer1340
outera1415
utterer1509
handler1534
trumpet1549
discourser1564
deliverer1580
linguist1612
vocalist1613
sermocinator1623
sermocinatrix1623
articulator1651
worder1654
voice1667
stringer1774
tonguer1822
vocalizer1830
locutor1858
outspeaker1858
speaker-hearer1965
speaker-listener1965
1965 N. Chomsky Aspects Theory Syntax i. 4 To study actual linguistic performance, we must consider the interaction of a variety of factors, of which the underlying competence of the speaker-hearer is only one.
1982 Amer. Speech 57 16 He must ultimately be willing to make claims about this base with respect to a speaker-hearer's capabilities.
speaker-key n. a key fitted to a wind instrument to enable the playing of notes an octave or a twelfth higher (cf. octave n.2 and adj.).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > wind instrument > [noun] > parts generally > key
stopc1500
key1754
octave key1866
speaker-key1890
touch key1891
1890 D. J. Blaikley Acoustics in Relation to Wind Instr. 31 In one direction advantage is taken..to aid the player in producing certain notes, notably on the clarionet; the thumb,—or speaker-key of which is designedly used to open a small air-way, thereby introducing a weak place, by which means certain sub-divisions of the air column are aided, and certain others are hindered.
1972 S. Richmond Clarinet & Saxophone Experience vi. 104 By pressing the speaker key for the second harmonic all notes will sound an octave higher.
speaker-listener n. = speaker-hearer n. above.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > one who speaks > [noun]
mathelereOE
mouthOE
speaker1303
sayer1340
outera1415
utterer1509
handler1534
trumpet1549
discourser1564
deliverer1580
linguist1612
vocalist1613
sermocinator1623
sermocinatrix1623
articulator1651
worder1654
voice1667
stringer1774
tonguer1822
vocalizer1830
locutor1858
outspeaker1858
speaker-hearer1965
speaker-listener1965
1965 N. Chomsky Aspects Theory Syntax i. 3 Linguistic theory is concerned primarily with an ideal speaker-listener, in a completely homogeneous speech-community.
1978 Archivum Linguisticum 9 10 The ideal speaker-listener of generative theory.
speaker-phone n. U.S. a telephone receiver which need not be held in the hand.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > telephone > types of
microtelephone1879
field telephone1880
telephone extension1881
pay telephone1886
home telephone1893
substation1897
extension1906
railophone1911
dial phone1917
payphone1919
dial telephone1921
autophone1922
mobile telephone1930
viewphone1932
videophone1944
mobile phone1945
car phone1946
video telephone1947
speaker-phone1955
picture telephone1956
princess phone1959
touchtone telephone1961
touch-tone1962
touchtone phone1963
picture phone1964
Trimphone1965
princess telephone1966
vision-telephone1966
visiophone1971
princess1973
warbler1973
landline1977
cardphone1978
feature phone1979
smartphone1980
mobile1982
cell phone1983
Vodafone1984
cellular1985
mobile device1989
brick1990
satphone1991
celly1992
burner phone1996
keitai1998
burner2002
1955 Sun (Baltimore) 29 July 8/6 The new ‘hands-free’ Speakerphones enable you to take notes, refer to records, have others in the room with you join in the telephone conversation.
1968 Time 5 Apr. 54 Emerson, a municipal court judge in Downey, Calif., finds the speakerphone invaluable for getting a brief piece of testimony from a policeman, parole officer or technical expert.
Speaker's Conference n. a conference, first set up in 1916, whose purpose is to examine electoral law and reform under the chairmanship of the Speaker of the House of Commons.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > right to vote at elections > [noun] > conference to examine electoral law
Speaker's Conference1917
1916 Times 16 Dec. 9/5 The Speaker's Electoral Reform Conference is for the moment in suspense.]
1917 Times 18 Jan. 9/5 The recommendations of the Speaker's Conference on Electoral Reform.
1974 Times 5 Mar. 2/3 Electoral reform has always been a matter for Parliament itself, expressing its view by means of free votes on recommendations by a Speaker's Conference.
1980 Guardian 18 Feb. 3/7 The last Speaker's Conference on electoral law, which met between 1972 and 1974, recommended..that the minimum age for standing for Parliament should be reduced.
Speakers' Corner n. the north-east corner of Hyde Park, near Marble Arch, noted as a place where soap-box orators traditionally air their views; also transferred.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > place for making speeches
oratory1614
Speakers' Corner1936
1936 J. C. Goodwin One of Crowd xix. 271 Speakers' Corner is a mixed grill of apostles and propagators, of oddities and crudities, of fanatics and eccentrics.
1953 Earl Winterton Orders of Day xxii. 313 ‘Speakers' Corner’ in Hyde Park.
1982 Times 16 Mar. 10/2 The crypt of St Paul's cathedral is regaining some of its historical reputation as an ecclesiastical Speakers' Corner.
Draft additions June 2007
speaker cabinet n. a cabinet which holds a loudspeaker, and sometimes other home audio equipment (cf. cabinet n. 1a(a)); (now more usually) a robust box-like casing containing one or more loudspeakers, used esp. in the amplification of an electric musical instrument, as part of the public address system at a concert, etc.
ΚΠ
1925 Los Angeles Times 25 Oct. i. 11/2 (advt.) 3-tube radio in handsome speaker cabinet.
1958 Times 21 Nov. 16/1 (advt.) Legs are optional: speaker cabinets can be wall-mounted if you wish.
1969 Bensenville (Illinois) Reg. 14 Nov. (Want ads section) a/6 Kingston bass guitar, $50. Also speaker cabinet 2–15″ Utah speakers, $100.
1999 C. Welch Close to Edge (2003) i. 1 Yes are in the throes of a thunderous performance, their music cascading around them from dozens of speaker cabinets.
Draft additions December 2019
speaker cab n. [shortened < speaker cabinet n. at Additions] a robust box-like casing containing one or more loudspeakers; = speaker cabinet n. at Additions.
ΚΠ
1946 Billboard 13 Apr. 148/2 (advt.) Kleer-Tone Speaker Cab.
1971 Village Voice 1 July 83/5 (advt.) Lansing speaker cab. Custom speaker cab.
2016 Washington Post (Nexis) 8 Aug. b3 If you take the amp and the speaker cabs also, the whole package price goes down to $100.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1303- reconstructed stone
- reconstructible
- reconstructing
- reconstruction
- reconstruction act
- reconstruction era
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- reconstructionary
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- reconstructiveness
- reconstructor
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- reconsult
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