speak – English noun declension

English noun forms of speak

Noun: speak
Singularspeak
Pluralspeaks

Sample Sentences

  • corporate speak; IT speak
  • We'll go into more depth with all the specs shortly so anyone less well versed in espresso speak will understand what I'm harping on about, but firstly let's just talk about using the machine. [2025 May 3, Kev, “Rocket Appartamento TCA Review”, in Coffee Blog:]
  • There's a little corporate speak going on here, don't get me wrong. Assassin's Creed gets described as "more than a game" and "a platform for meaningful exploration and reflection wrapped in the excitement of unforgettable gameplay"—which is executive babble, let's be honest. [2025 February 26, Harvey Randall, “Ubi Strikes Back”, in PC Gamer (US), number 392, page 9:]
  • We will deduct speaks for hesitation.

Etymology

1. From Middle English speke, speken (“to speak”), from Old English specan (“to speak”). This is usually taken to be an irregular alteration of earlier sprecan, spreocan (“to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan, from Proto-Germanic *sprekaną (“to speak, make a sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *spreg- (“to make a sound, utter, speak”). Finding this proposed loss of r from the stable cluster spr unparalleled, Hill instead sets up a different root, Proto-West Germanic *spekan (“to negotiate”) from Proto-Indo-European *bʰégʾ-e- (“to distribute”) with *s-mobile, which collapsed in meaning with *sprekan ("to speak" < "to crackle, prattle") and so came to be seen as a free variant thereof.
2. Cognates
3. Cognate with Scots speak, speik (“to speak”), Saterland Frisian spreke (“to speak”), West Frisian sprekke (“to speak”), Central Franconian sjprèche (“to speak”), Dutch and Low German spreken (“to speak”), German sprechen (“to speak”), Luxembourgish spriechen (“to speak”), and also with Albanian shpreh (“to express, manifest, show”) through Indo-European. See: Middle English Nouns 'speke', Old English Nouns 'specan'.

Verbs referencing "speak"

Finnish Nouns spiikki.