Word.ws English Dictionary

say

/seɪ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/seɪ/

say verb: to pronounce.

Verb (1)

say (third-person singular simple present says, present participle saying, simple past and past participle said)

  1. (transitive) To pronounce.
    • Please say your name slowly and clearly.
  2. (transitive) To recite.
    • Martha, will you say the Pledge of Allegiance?
    • Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 53-54
  3. (transitive) To tell, either verbally or in writing.
    • He said he would be here tomorrow.
    • The note I think he said she wrote is nowhere to be found.
  4. (transitive) To indicate in a written form.
    • The sign says it’s 50 kilometres to Paris.
    • What time does it say on the clock?
  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.
    • They say "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", which means "behave as those around you do."
    • They say that Hope is happiness; But genuine Love must prize the past.1815, George Gordon Byron, “They say that Hope is happiness”, in The Hebrew Melodies
  6. (imperative, informal, transitive) Suppose, assume; used to mark an example, supposition or hypothesis.
    • A holiday somewhere warm – Florida, say – would be nice.
    • Say he refuses. What do we do then?
  7. (intransitive) To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
    • You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judgec. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    • To this argument we shall soon have said; for what concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household privacies?1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC, page 63
  8. (especially, informal, transitive) To bet as a wager on an outcome; by extension, used to express belief in an outcome by the speaker.
    • 'My fifty pounds says three months after the invasion there'll be a free press in Iraq, and unmonitored internet access too.'2005, Ian McEwan, Saturday, page 192

Noun (1)

say (usually uncountable, plural says)

  1. (usually) A chance to speak; the right or power to influence or make a decision.
    • The local government did not have much say in the matter.
    • Above all, however, we would like to think that there is more to be decided, after the engines and after the humans have had their says.2004, Richard Rogers, Information politics on the Web

Adverb

say (not comparable)

  1. For example; let us assume.
    • Pick a color you think they'd like, say, peach.
    • He was driving pretty fast, say, fifty miles per hour.

Interjection

say

  1. (US, colloquial) Used to gain someone's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion
    • Say, what did you think about the movie?
    Synonyms:
    hey

Noun (2)

say (countable and uncountable, plural says)

  1. A type of fine cloth similar to serge.
    • Per.[igot] VVell decked in a frocke of gray, / Will.[y] hey ho, gray is greet, / Per. And in a kirtle of greene ſaye, / Will. the greene is for maydens meete.1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “August. Ægloga Octaua.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC, folio 32, recto
    • All in a kirtle of diſcolourd ſay / He clothed was […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 53

Verb (2)

say (third-person singular simple present says, present participle saying, simple past and past participle sayed)

  1. To try; to assay.
    • I, that had sayed on one of his customers sutes.1600 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby...

Noun (3)

say (plural says)

  1. Trial by sample; assay; specimen.
    • If those principal works of God […] be but certain tastes and says, as if were, of that final benefit., page 193
    • Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
  2. Tried quality; temper; proof.
    • He found a sword of better say.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 47, page 505
  3. Essay; trial; attempt.
    • This fellow, Captaine, Will come, in time, to be a great distiller, And giue a say[…]at the philosophers stone.1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, (please specify the Internet...

Noun (4)

say (plural says)

  1. (Scotland) A strainer for milk.

Proper noun capitalized: Say

Say

  1. A surname.

say meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

say in Hindi

to pronounce
कहना kahnā
to say, to tell
कहना kahnā
Translations
कहते हैं kahte ha͠i, कहता हूँ kahtā hū̃, कहती हूँ kahtī hū̃

say in Tamil

to pronounce
சொல் col
to say, to tell
என் eṉ, சொல் col, கூறு kūṟu

say in Marathi

to pronounce
म्हणणे mhaṇṇe
to say, to tell
सांगणे sāṅgṇe, म्हणणे mhaṇṇe

say in Urdu

to pronounce
کَہْنا kahnā
to say, to tell
بولنا bolnā, کہنا kahnā, فرمانا farmānā
More languagesFewer languages
say in Bengali
বলা bola
say in Telugu
చెప్పు ceppu, అను anu
say in Malayalam
പറയുക paṟayuka, ശബ്ദിക്കുന്നു śabdikkunnu
say in Kannada
ಎನ್ನು ennu, ಹೇಳು hēḷu, ಅನ್ನು annu
say in Punjabi
ਕਹਿਣਾ kahiṇā
say in Gujarati
કહેવું kahevũ
say in Odia
କହିବା kahibā
say in Sanskrit
वदति vádati, भाषते bhāṣate, विवक्ति vívakti
say in Sinhala
කියනවා kiyanawā
say in Assamese
ক ko
say in Nepali
भन्नु bhannu, बोल्नु bolnu, वाचन गर्नु vācan garnu
say in Pashto
ويل wayǝ́l, اظهارول ezhārawǝ́l
say in Tagalog
sabihin, magsabi
say in Arabic
قَالَ qāla, قال ʔāl, قَال gāl, حكى ḥaka
say in Malay
kata, cakap, bilang
say in Indonesian
berkata, bicara, bilang
say in Persian
گُفْتَن guftan
say in Thai
กล่าว glàao, พูด pûut
say in Vietnamese
nói, đọc
say in Myanmar
ဆို hcui, ပြော prau:, ပေါ့ pau.
Sindhi
چَوَڻُ cavaṇu
Kashmiri
وَنُن vanun, دَپُن dapun, بوزناوُن bōznāvun

Examples of say in a sentence

  • Say your family is starving and you don't have any money, is it okay to steal some food?
  • ‘All right,’ said Jessamy. ‘I say, Miss Brindle said she’d think about you coming to see the house some time.1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 95:
  • I want to say I’m sorry for yesterday. — It’s okay, Anna.2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
  • 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[…]1984, Martin Amis, Money: a suicide note:
  • The City Council will be the final stop for the data center and the final say on whether the project will move forward in Colorado Springs.2026 August 11, Brennen Kauffman, “Colorado Springs City Council sets special meeting for Project Taurus data center decision”, in The...

All 40 example sentences with say

Synonyms of say

2 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of say

Forms of say

third-person singular presentsays
present participlesaying
past participlesaid
pastsaid
alternative pronunciation-spellingthay
alternative pronunciation-spellingzay
past participlesayed
pastsayed
second-person singular present (archaic)sayest
second-person singular past (archaic)saidst
third-person singular present (archaic)sayeth
third-person singular present (archaic)saith
alternative form (obsolete)saie
alternative form (obsolete)saye
alternative form (obsolete)seye

Past tense of say: said

Plural of say: says

Origin of say

From Middle English saien, sain, san, secgan, segen, seien, sein, seiȝen, sugen, sægen, ziggen, from Old English seċġan, secgean, secggan, secggean, seggan, sæċġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-h₁-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sekʷ- (“to say”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian sai, seede, sii, sjide, sooi, säie (“to say”), West Frisian sizze (“to say”), Alemannic German ŝchége, ŝchegi, séege, säge, sägä (“to say”), Bavarian sogn, soon, sågn (“to say”), Dutch zeggen (“to say”), German sagen (“to say”), Low German seggen (“to say, tell”), Luxembourgish soen (“to say”), Vilamovian ziöen, zuön, zuø̄n (“to say”), Yiddish זאָגן (zogn, “to say”), Danish sige (“to say”), Elfdalian saja (“to say”), Faroese siga (“to say”), Icelandic segja (“to say”), Jamtish segi (“to say”), Norwegian Bokmål si (“to say”), Norwegian Nynorsk segja, seia, seie (“to say, tell”), Scanian siğa (“to say”), Swedish säga (“to say”); also Cornish hwedhel (“narrative, story, tale”), Irish scéal (“story, tale”), Manx skeeal (“story; news; narrative”), Scottish Gaelic sgeul (“story, tale; information, news”), Welsh...

From Middle French saie, from Latin saga, plural of sagum (“military cloak”).

Aphetic form of assay.

Words formed from say

Phrases with say

86 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with say

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about say

What does say mean?
Say means to pronounce.
What is say in Hindi?
Say in Hindi is कहना (kahnā), कहते हैं (kahte ha͠i), कहता हूँ (kahtā hū̃). See Say meaning in Hindi.
How do you use say in a sentence?
Say your family is starving and you don't have any money, is it okay to steal some food?
What part of speech is say?
Say can be a verb, a noun, an adverb or an interjection.
How do you pronounce say?
Say is pronounced /seɪ/ (US).
What is the past tense of say?
The past tense of say is said.

Words near say in the dictionary

  1. Saxtons River
  2. Saxtti
  3. saxtuba
  4. saxtubas
  5. saxum
  6. say
  7. say aah
  8. say again
  9. Say blister beetle
  10. Say blister beetles
  11. say bo to a goose

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: say (page history and authors); Say (page history and authors); કહેવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-say.ogg.

Cite this entry: “say.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/say. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.