▪ I. utterance1
(ˈʌtərəns)
Forms: 5– utterance (5–6 -aunce), 5–7 vtterance (5–6 -aunce, 6 -ans), 5 vttrawnce (6 -ance), vttr-, 8 utt'rance; 5 ottyrance, oterauns, uter-, 6 vteraunce.
[f. utter v.1 + -ance.]
I. † 1. a. The disposal of goods, commodities, etc., by sale or barter. Obs.
| 1436 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 499/1 If it seme come to, that utterance and sale of the seid Wolle..be so escarse. 1461 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 300 If ony citsaine..wil gyve the utterance of ony marchandise..unto a strangere. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vii. 630 Theyr vtteraunce of clothe of golde and sylkys to the..lordes of the realme. 1579 Southampton Court Leet Rec. (1906) ii. 176 The fishe⁓mongers should have shoppes..built in the ffishe marcket for the..vtterance of the same. c 1630 T. Mun Eng. Treas. (1664) 18 We must..sell as cheap as possible..rather than to lose the utterance of such wares. 1632 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 478 The greate losse which husbandmen receive for want of utterance for their corne. |
† b. In the
phr. to have or make ({ddd}) utterance.
| 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 129 The said peper is so musty..your said suppliant as yet can haue non vttraunce therof. Ibid., He is neuer lyke to haue ani vttiraunce of the said peper heraftir. 1577 Harrison England ii. v. (1877) i. 136 By ridding their worke to make speedie vtterance of their wares. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 594 There hee had reasonable vtterance of his English commodities. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. ii. 313 Having no such vtterance of her Ware. 1675 Machiavelli's Prince Wks. 258 Towards the Sea-side they have no utterance for any thing. |
† 2. The action of giving out of a store; issue.
Obs. rare.
| a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 57 That ye take..suche oversights of all..stuffe, comprised within your charge,..that the utterance of it be guyded to the King's most worship and profitt. 1603 Breton Packet Mad Lett. xliii, Usurers are halfe mad, for lacke of vtterance of their mony. 1757 Jos. Harris Coins 86 Coining only ascertains the quantity of metal contained in the several pieces, at their utterance out of the mint. |
| fig. c 1585 Fair Em i. iv. 24 Nature vniust, in vtterance of thy arte, To grace a pesant with a Princes fame! |
3. a. The action of uttering with the voice; vocal expression of something; speaking, speech. Also with
of.
Also
freq. from
c 1667 in the phrase
to give utterance (to something).
| c 1456 Pecock Bk. of Faith (1909) 130 A publisching or a nakid uttraunce, telling, or denouncing. 1474 Caxton Chesse ii. iii. (1883) 38 Oftetymes they selle as welle theyr scilence as theyr vtterance. 1489 Cov. Leet Bk. 536 For disclosure & vtteraunce of certain seducious langage. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 4 Utterance therefore is a framyng of the voyce, countenaunce, and gesture, after a comely maner. a 1589 Palfreyman Baldwin's Mor. Philos. (1600) 156 The holinesse and cleannesse of the mouth, standeth in the utterance of rightnesse and truth. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 51 Samela..seeing his vtterance full of broken sighes. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. 47 In vaine therefore do they pretend to want utterance in prayer, who can finde utterance to preach. 1648 Wilkins Math. Magic ii. iv. 176 The utterance of articulate sounds. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 1066 Adam..At length gave utterance to these words constraind. 1703 Rowe Fair Penit. i. i, Utterance all is vile; since I can only Swear you reign here, but never tell how much. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 339 The total herd..resolv'd..To give such act and utt'rance as they may To ecstasy. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxix, Her courage failed as often as she attempted utterance. 1839 Dickens Nich. Nick. xii, With such energy of utterance as might have been..mistaken for rapture. 1847 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. III. 141 These protests were only the utterance of the feeling that France yielded to force. 1861 Geo. Eliot Silas M. ix, The Squire was purple with anger.., and found utterance difficult. |
| transf. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 378 These [sc. recorder stops] cannot I command to any vtterance of hermony, I haue not the skill. 1842 Tennyson Love & Duty 61 We..to the want..Gave utterance by the yearning of an eye. a 1854 H. Reed Lect. Brit. Poets i. (1857) 14 The souls of mighty poets finding utterance in the music of English words. |
b. The action of expelling breath.
| 1844 W. Upton Physioglyphics 186 This primary reference..of a r, to the utterance of the breath with earnestness. |
4. The faculty or power of speech; manner of speaking.
| 1474 Caxton Chesse iii. v. (1883) 119 The gracious speche and vtterance of rethorique. 1480 ― Trevisa's Higden (1482) 140 He..was connyng in crafte of fayre vtteraunce. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 30 To some persones is gyuen syngular good vtteraunce of eloquence. 1553 Wilson Rhet. 116 b, Hauing a good tongue,..he shall be thought to passe all other, that haue the like utteraunce. 1602 2nd Pt. Return Parnass. iii. i. 1151 It remaines to try whether you bee a man of good vtterance. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 62 All the Sanctities of Heaven..from his sight receiv'd Beatitude past utterance. 1676 Dryden Aureng Z. Ep. Ded. A 2 b, 'Tis onely because God has not bestow'd on them the gift of utterance. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 27 ¶5 She has naturally a very agreeable Voice and Utterance. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia v. iv, All utterance seemed denied her. 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, I. ii. 21 The King's difficult utterance rendered his addresses..painful to himself and the Parliament. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxiii, A deep, gruff, husky utterance. 1871 Tylor Prim. Cult. I. 45 A king of Singhalese patois, peculiar in dialect and utterance. |
| fig. 1702 Steele Grief à-la-Mode iii. i. 43 Her Charms are Dumb, they want utterance. |
5. That which is uttered or expressed in words; a spoken (or written) statement or expression; an articulated sound.
Freq. from
c 1865,
esp. with
an and
pl.| c 1454 Pecock Folewer 103 Suche wordis, countenauncis, gesturis and vttrauncis. 1596 Edw. III, ii. i, I might perceiue..His eare to drinke her sweet tongues vtterance. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 410 Eve..turnd him all eare to heare new utterance flow. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam vii. xxxii, Sweet melodies Of love..I caught,..when thy dear eyes Shone through my sleep, and did that utterance harmonize. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iii, To hear a whole series and river of the most memorable utterances. 1860 Geo. Eliot in Cross Life (1884) III. 131 The ‘Mill on the Floss’ be it then!.. The title is rather a laborious utterance. 1871 Blackie Four Phases i. 97 Let us attempt to analyse this utterance. 1887 Bowen æneid iv. 280 Horror bristles his locks, on his lips all utterance dies. |
(
b) Freq. in
Linguistics, spoken or written words forming the complete expression of a thought. (Used with varying degrees of technicality.)
| 1932 A. H. Gardiner Theory of Speech & Lang. iv. 206 Under the term ‘utterance’ writing must be included. 1951 Z. S. Harris Methods in Structural Linguistics ii. 14 An utterance is any stretch of talk, by one person, before and after which there is silence on the part of the person. The utterance is, in general, not identical with the ‘sentence’. 1955 J. L. Austin How to do Things with Words (1962) v. 61 Written utterances are not tethered to their origin in the way spoken ones are. 1964 M. A. K. Halliday et al. Linguistic Sci. iv. 95 The utterance, the smallest institutional unit of language activity. 1966 Y. Bar-Hillel in Automatic Transl. of Lang. (NATO Summer School, Venice, 1962) 17, I have already suggested..to distinguish artificially between them qua technical terms and use ‘utterance’ for observational entities and ‘sentence’ for theoretical ones. |
II. † 6. A place of egress; an outlet.
Obs.| 1662 Chandler Van Helmont's Oriat. 222 In what part the Stomach layeth open at top,..is called its Orifice or mouth: But its utterance beneath [L. infernus vero ejus exitus], is named the Pylorus or Porter. |
III. 7. attrib. and
Comb., as
utterance-type;
utterance-final,
utterance-initial,
utterance-interior,
utterance-medial adjs.;
utterance-finally adv.| 1953 C. E. Bazell Linguistic Form 5 The most common English utterance-type. 1957 in Amer. Speech 1972 (1975) XLVII. 229 Even assuming there may be for some speakers certain contrasts in utterance-interior positions which might require both /{cbreve}/ and /t{sbreve}/ in the inventory, surely there are no such contrasts in utterance-initial and utterance-final sequences. 1964 W. Jassem in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 346 Voiced stops do not occur utterance-finally in Polish. 1970 Language XLVI. 80 Even in his speech the laryngeal is lost in utterance-medial positions. Ibid. 82 For the nasal consonants, the variant which occurs in utterance-initial syllable onset before nasal vowels is taken to be basic. 1977 Ibid. LIII. 318 The optional utterance-final particle -o may be added to both imperatives and vocatives. 1978 C. Hookway in Hookway & Pettit Action & Interpretation 32 The notion of utterance type is itself translational, as Wallace puts it. |
▪ II. utterance2 Now
lit. or
arch. Forms: 5–7, 9
utterance, 6
-aunce, 5
vtterauns(e,
-ans, 5–6
-aunce, 6–7
-ance, 5
uttraunce, 6–7
-ance, 5–7
vttraunce, 5–6
-anse; 5
vtraunce, 6
vterance,
-aunce,
Sc. vtyrrans,
wterance.
[ad. OF. oultrance, outrance: see outrance.] † 1. A degree which surpasses bounds or goes beyond measure in respect of severity, vehemence, etc.; immoderate force or violence; excess, the uttermost.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 5130 Þen Vlixes, with vtterans vne vpponone, The derfe wordis of Diamede dullit with speche. Ibid. 5808 Vlixes with vtteraunse vnder his shild Mony stithe in stoure stroke on þere helmes. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas ix. 3221 In tokne that God his quarel wolde auaunce, Disconfiture was maad on that partie, Vpon King Iohn be violent vttraunce. 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. v. 218 It doth me good to fele your myght and yet my lord I shewed not the vtteraunce. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. i. xv. (1811) 15 The Circumstaunce of the vtterans of y⊇ vnkyndnesse of his .ii. doughters. 1590 Greene Royal Exch. B 1 b, Anie..that had [not] doone some exployte before in some battaile of vtteraunce. |
2. a. to (unto, into) the (such, etc.) utterance, to an extreme degree; to the bitter end; to the last or utmost extremity. Freq. (
b) with
fight, etc. Now
lit. or
arch. (revived in 19th
cent.).
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 7981 Þat all the deire of the ded be done on vs two, To vttranse & yssue vne at this tyme. c 1450 Lovelich Merlin 10088 So that they sworen..thereon to ben avenged jnto þe vttrawnce. 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. xii. 230 Thenne will I haue adoo with hym to the vtteraunce. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xlviii. 163 No frensshmen wolde vndertake to kepe it [sc. a town] to the vtteraunce, for it was not stronge ynoughe. 1567 Paynell tr. Treas. Amadis of Gaule 239, I must take the sword by the way of the armes betwene you and me onely unto the utterance of your life or mine. 1587 Greene Euphues Wks. (Grosart) VI. 158 To make a counterpoyse of discourtesie to the vtteraunce. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 428 Corne steeped in water, whereof they will drinke to the utterance, and be drunke. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. i. 72 Come Fate into the Lyst, And champion me to th' vtterance. |
| 1860 Motley Netherl. iv. I. 130 The champion to the utterance against Spain, stood there with lance in rest. 1907 M{supc}Carthy Needles & Pins xi, She had loved him well and proved it to the utterance. |
| (b) 1475 Bk. Noblesse 77 To doo armes in liestis to the utteraunce. 1512 Helyas in Thoms Prose Rom. (1828) III. 93 Here is my gauge to sustain it to the utteraunce. 1550 J. Coke Eng. & Fr. Heralds §59 Heralde the usurper fought the battayle to th' utteraunce. 1578 H. Wotton Courtlie Controv. 7 Thus the Gentlemen..skirmished to the vtterance. 1600 Holland Livy 1126 He prepared warre with all his power to the utterance. 1606 ― Sueton. 16 At the saide solemnity of sword-plaiers, there fought to the uttrance..Fvrivs Leptinvs..and A. Calpenvs. |
| 1821 Southey Exped. Orsua 56, I will fight him to the utterance upon this quarrel. 1834 Sir H. Taylor Artevelde ii. v. ii, The Lower Lis They to the utterance will dispute. 1837 Browning Strafford v. ii, I fought her [sc. England] to the utterance, I fell, I am hers now, and I will die. |
† b. to bring or put to (or unto) utterance, to overcome completely, vanquish thoroughly; to bring to ruin or subjection, put to death.
Obs.| 1430 Lydg. St. Margaret 324 Thou hast me brought shortly to vttraunce, I am venquysshed. c 1430 ― Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 135 Whan Amelech was brouhte unto uttraunce. c 1477 Caxton Jason 138 Whan his complices apperceyued that he was put to vtteraunce. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys 185 If thy iustyce sholde put vs to vttraunce, We sholde be damnyd for our mysgouernaunce. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xvii. 47 He hath brought his enemy to vttranse, and slayne hym. 1596 Z. J. tr. Lavardin's Hist. Scanderbeg 92 The Christians increasing still in fury..did on all parts put them to utterance. |
| fig. 1509 Barclay Shyp Folys 226 Assaynge for to put our fayth to harde vttraunce. |
† 3. at (the) utterance:
a. With the highest degree of energy or vigour; with the utmost force or violence; to the last or uttermost degree. Freq. with verbs,
esp. fight. (
Cf. 2 a.)
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxlii. 148 b, Than thees two worthy lordes comen..and weren redy in the place for to fight at vtteraunce. 1485 ― Chas. Gt. 62 They lete theyr horses renne wyth a grete courage for to Iuste at vtteraunce. Ibid. 142 Þe pylers of marble & other stones bygonnen to brenne & make fyre at vtteraunce. a 1548 Hall Chron., Rich. III, 26 He woulde fighte with hym at the vtteraunce. 1600 Holland Livy 684 Corbis and Orsua made profession to trie the title at the utterance by dint of sword. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. i. 73 Of him, I gather'd Honour, Which he, to seeke of me againe, perforce, Behooues me keepe at vtterance. a 1630 D. Hume Hist. Ho. Douglas & Angus (1644) 30 Hee used them so gently, which he would not have done if he had taken it [sc. the castle] at utterance. |
† b. To the utmost
of (one's power).
Obs.| 1513 Douglas æneid xii. ix. 124 Euery man..At the vtyrrans of all his fors gan fycht. |
† c. At the last extremity.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxiv. 26/1 A varlet..stode by and sawe the batayle... And whan he sawe his maister almost at vttraunce, he was sorie. |