▪ I. speaking, vbl. n.
(ˈspiːkɪŋ)
[f. speak v.]
1. a. The action of the verb; talking, discoursing.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 8285 Ȝyt þer ys spekyng of vylaynye Þat longeþ vnto lecherye. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 181 Sic speking off the king thai maid. c 1440 Alph. Tales 228 He..dischargid þaim þe company & spekyng with of any strangiers. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 1507 Sone thai war brocht to spekyng to Wallace. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxxiii. 148 They fledde away as ferr as they might here spekyng of thenglysshmen. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 10 From the South hath scarce ever beene attempted a journey worth speaking of, to the indammagement of the North. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. p. cx, These very words of the Captains speaking were Noted down from his Mouth by the Person to whom he spake them. 1780 Mirror No. 88, A young gentleman, who, from his correct manner of speaking, I suppose practised the law. 1825 Scott Talism. xviii, Within an hour from the time of my speaking. 1845 Clough New Sinai vi. Poems (1849) 25 The Voice, Whose speaking spoke abroad..The ancient Truth of God. |
b. The delivery of speeches; speech-making.
| a 1763 W. King Polit. & Lit. Anecd. (1819) 181 note, Indeed our methodists and our enthusiasts of all denominations pretend to the gift of speaking. 1828 Whately Rhet. in Encycl. Metrop. I. 241/1 It is evident that in its primary signification, Rhetoric had reference to public Speaking alone. 1847 Helps Friends in C. i. i. 63 That you would not be so bitter against after-dinner speaking. |
2. a. With possessive prons., etc.: Speech, talk; conversation, discourse.
| a 1325 Prose Psalter cxviii. 50 Þi spekyng quikened me. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 428 Gyff thow wald kep thi fewte, Thow maid nane sic speking to me. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 2810 He toke then leue at qwene Eleyne, Off here spekyng he was fayne. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xviii. 190 Sich spekyng will we spare. 1876 Morris Sigurd (1877) 7 So sweet his speaking sounded. 1885 Athenæum 17 Oct. 501/2 He was obliged..to mingle some plain political speaking..with his ethical teaching. |
b. An instance or occasion of speech or talk; a discourse,
† conference, discussion, etc. Now chiefly
U.S. at this (or the) present speaking, at this moment.
| c 1275 Lay. 12988 Þo comen to Londene alle þeos Bruttes to one speking. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 301 In alle þis spekyng com þe tresorere Fro Edward our kyng. 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 52 Also it was ordeynd..for to haue a spekyng to-gedyr thre tymes in þe ȝer. 1481 Caxton Reynard xvii. (Arb.) 43 Assone as this spekyng was don. 1491 ― Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) ii. 184/2 The good relygyous..was enfourmed of this spekyng. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. iv. 148 'Tis still a Dreame: or else..a speaking such As sense cannot vntye. 1650 Cromwell Let. 12 Sept. in Carlyle Lett. & Sp., A speaking to instruction and edification. 1835 J. P. Kennedy Horse-Shoe Robinson I. vi. 78 If I suspicioned a bamboozlement, which I am not far from at this present speaking. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxiii, That she was the mother of eight children at that present speaking. 1844 Mrs. Browning Lady Geraldine's Courtship xii, When a sudden silver speaking, gravely cadenced, over-rung them. 1863 C. C. Hopley Life in South I. 57 Then came the ‘speaking’, as the sermon was called. 1891 M. E. Ryan Told in Hills iii. v. 205 At the present speaking the days are not picnic days. 1895 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Mystery Witch-Face Mt. 206 Thar war a big crowd at the cross roads ter hear the speakin'. 1942 J. Thomas Blue Ridge v. 155 Men..will travel miles to a speaking—which may be a political gathering or one for..discussing road building. |
† c. pl. Things spoken; sayings, statements, words.
Obs.| a 1325 Prose Psalter cxviii. 11 Ich hidde þy spekynges in myn hert. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 49, I mot algate..make my spekynges Of love. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 42 By tokyns & ensamples, & lyke spekyngges. 1535 Coverdale Dan. viii. 23 A kynge..which shall be wyse in darcke speakinges. 1578 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 16 To credeit the reportis and speikingis of the saidis personis. 1653 H. More Def. Cabbala 177 To understand the speakings of God, according as the circumstances of the Matter naturally imply. |
3. a. With
adjs., as
evil,
fair,
great,
wise, etc.
| 1340 Ayenb. 50 Ine zenne of kueade tonge, þet is in fole spekinge. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 533/159 Whon he þe makeþ feirest spekyng Þen drede þou most his dedes suwyng. 1486 Bk. St. Albans e iij, For all the fayre spekyng..Commyth of sechyng and fyndyng of the hare. 1535 Coverdale Ephes. iv. 31 Let all bytternes,..roaringe, & cursed speakynge [1611 euill speaking] be farre from you. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 130 My first false speaking Was this vpon my selfe. 1611 Bible 1 Pet. ii. 1 Laying aside all malice,..and enuies, and euill speakings. 1721 Bailey, Malediction, an Evil Speaking or cursing. |
b. With
advs., as
evil,
soft,
thick, etc.
| 1530 Palsgr. 274/1 Spekyng toguyder, locution. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Abbaissement de voix, a speaking soft. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 24 And speaking thicke (which Nature made his blemish) Became the Accents of the Valiant. 1639 Drummond of Hawthornden Prophecy Wks. (1711) 180 If the speaking evil of a King be a Sin before God. 1736 Ainsworth ii, Pronunciatio,..a speaking out, or delivery of a speech. 1920 D. H. Lawrence Lost Girl iv. 54 She began to hate outspokenness and direct speaking-forth of the whole mind. |
† 4. The faculty or power of speech.
Obs.| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xii. (Matthias) 386 Defe men he gaf herynge, alsa to dum þe spekyne. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 140 Though the frere minour gyue syght to y⊇ blynde,..to the domme spekyng. |
5. attrib., as
speaking acquaintance,
speaking distance,
speaking engagement,
speaking exercise,
speaking order,
speaking part,
speaking point,
speaking room,
speaking tour,
speaking trip,
speaking voice, etc.
| 1687 Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v., This Book is a great Help both for the speaking and the reading part. 1751 Female Foundling II. 47 Immediately I went down into the Speaking-room [= parlour]. 1852 Bristed Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. (ed. 2) 289 And our acquaintance with the tongue of Dante never became, to borrow a very old Joe Miller, a speaking acquaintance. 1860 Adler Prov. Poet. x. 216 Rudiger has already arrived within speaking distance of the enemy. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit. iv. 55 The eloquence of one stimulates all the rest, some up to the speaking-point. 1870 O. Logan Before Footlights & behind Scenes iii. 37 By and by I got into ‘speaking parts’, such as the Duke of York in Richard the Third. 1879 Law Rep. Appeal Cases IV. 40 If the Court of Quarter Sessions stated upon the face of the order, by way of recital, that the facts were so and so, and the grounds of its decision were such as were so stated, then the order became upon the face of it, a speaking order. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 355 Graduated and methodical speaking exercises. 1908 E. Terry Story of My Life xiv. 355 Melba..had a bad cold, and therefore a frightful speaking voice for the moment. 1924 W. Holtby Crowded Street xxxvi. 270 Delia..departed northwards on a speaking tour. 1931 F. L. Allen Only Yesterday ii. 32 He would win them to his cause, making a speaking trip through the West. 1944 N. Streatfeild Curtain Up viii. 99 Mime..she loved. Then there were her speaking parts. 1973 ‘E. McBain’ Hail to Chief vi. 109, I have a speaking engagement... I'm talking at a women's college. 1977 Rolling Stone 5 May 15/4 White, a big man with a rich, resonant speaking voice which turned into a tough growl when he sang. 1978 M. Dickens Open Book xix. 173 On this speaking tour, my engagements fell roughly into two main categories. 1979 Ld. Denning Discipline of Law ii. i. 66 It was possible to extend it to include not only the order of the Tribunal itself—when it was a ‘speaking order’—but in addition all the documents properly before the Tribunal and considered by them. |
b. In combs. denoting devices or apparatus for producing or conveying articulate sounds, as
speaking-apparatus,
speaking battery,
speaking board,
speaking-machine,
speaking-pipe,
speaking telephone,
† speaking trump, etc.;
speaking front, an organ-front composed of pipes which actually sound, as contrasted with dummy pipes. See also
speaking-trumpet, -tube.
| a 1711 Ken Hymns Festiv. Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 315 Up then I saw an Angel take His Speaking-Trump. 1795 Phil. Trans. LXXXV. 401 By means of the speaking-pipe the workman may be directed to begin, to stop, to go fast, or slow. 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic vii. 159 It has been supposed..that in the ancient speaking-machines the deception is effected by means of ventriloquism. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. vi. i, Not a unit of whom but has..his own speaking-apparatus. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXIV. 154/1 Speaking-pipes, or tubes to convey the voice from one place to another. 1879 Prescott Sp. Telephone 44 During the past year the articulating or Speaking Telephone has attracted very general interest. 1881 W. E. Dickson Pract. Organ-building iv. 53 It is by these means that ‘speaking fronts’ are arranged according to any design. |
c. on (upon, † in) speaking terms: see
term n. 9 a. (Usually in negative constructions.)
| 1786 Mackenzie Lounger No. 78 ¶2 One half of the neighbours are scarce in speaking terms with the other. 1801 M. Edgeworth Belinda I. xii. 370 Lady Delacour is not upon speaking terms with this Mrs. Margaret Delacour; she cannot endure her. 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. xi, Mrs. Perkins, who has not been for some weeks on speaking terms with Mrs. Piper. 1882 ‘Edna Lyall’ Donovan xli, He was no longer on speaking terms with Stephen. |
▪ II. speaking, ppl. a. (
ˈspiːkɪŋ)
[f. speak v.] 1. a. That speaks; capable of articulate speech.
† In early use
absol.| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2821 Quo made domme, and quo specande? 1382 Wyclif Ezek. ii. 1 A vois of the spekynge. 1568 Satir. Poems Reform. xlvii. 102 Callit ane speikand devill. 1685 Boyle Enq. Notion Nat. iv. 84 Of some such sort of speaking images, some learned criticks suppose the Teraphim..to have been. 1740 J. Dyer Ruins Rome (1903) 33 Historic urns and breathing statues rise, And speaking busts. 1778–81 Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry xxvii. (1870) 452 The public pageants of this period..received.. the addition of speaking personages. 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic i. 4 The speaking head which uttered its oracular responses at Lesbos. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. ii. 19 So the speaking man has no business to meddle with the invention of signs. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XV. 208/1 The philosopher Descartes made a speaking figure. |
| fig. 1549 Compl. Scot. xiii. 108 Ther is ane ald prouerb that says, that ane herand damysele, and ane spekand castel, sal neuyr end vith honour. 1644 J. Bulwer (title), Chirologia; or the Natvrall Langvage of the Hand. Composed of the Speaking Motions, and Discoursing Gestures thereof. |
b. As the second element of various combs., as
evil-speaking,
fair-speaking,
great-speaking,
public-speaking,
true-speaking,
well-speaking.
† Also
absol.| a 1325 Prose Psalter xliii. 18 Fram þe voice of þe reproceand and þe oȝains spekand. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1268 A knyght..That worthy was and wel spekyng. 1388 Wyclif Ps. xi. 4 The Lorde destrie..the greet spekynge tunge. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 211 That he bene corteyse, wel Spekynge, and eloquente. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 290 The opinion of any one true speaking man. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Pendu, A smooth, glib, eloquent, or well speaking tongue. 1647 Clarendon Contempl. on Ps. Tracts (1727) 517 To grapple with our fair⁓speaking adversaries. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. vii. iii, The public-speaking woman at the Palais Royal. |
c. In objective combs. with names of languages.
| 1865 Kingsley Herew. Prel., French-speaking knights. 1873– [see english a. C]. 1899 Mackail W. Morris I. 179 Among Greek-speaking people. |
2. a. In various
fig. and
transf. senses;
esp. expressive, significant, eloquent.
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. xlv. i, Thie lipps, as springs, doe flowe with speaking grace. 1635 Jackson Creed viii. xxxi. 358 A prophecie or speaking picture that the victory..should be accomplishte upon the crosse. 1653 R. Flecknoe Poems of all Sorts 1 Still borne Silence,..Admirations speakingst Tongue. 1722 De Foe Plague (1884) 84 'Tis a speaking Sight. 1730 T. Boston Mem. ix, This recovery..seemed to be speaking as to the point I was concerned about. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iv. 3 The balmiest sigh..Were discord to the speaking quietude That wraps this moveless scene. 1853 Humphreys Coin-coll. Man. I. 262 Supposed to have been adopted as a speaking type. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. V. xxii. 40 The same is of itself a speaking witness to their permanence. |
b. Of the eyes, countenance, etc.: Highly expressive.
| 1592 Arden of Feversham i. 259 Loue is the Painters Muse, That makes him frame a speaking countenaunce. 1602 Kyd's Span. Trag. iii. Wks. (1901) 68 With a speaking looke to my sonne Horatio. 1631 P. Fletcher Piscatory Eclog. ii. xx. (1633) 12 Me thinks I heare thy speaking eye Woo me my posting journey to delay. 1726 Pope Odyss. xvii. 438 With speaking eyes, and voice of plaintiff sound. 1740 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xxiii. 35 Can the pretty image speak, Mrs. Jervis? I vow she has speaking eyes! 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. vi, One who takes her answer..from the speaking lineaments of the face, which are Truth's witnesses. 1842 Is. Williams Baptistery ii. xxviii. (1874) 145 Expression varies still each speaking glance. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay ii, Elsie was silent, but a distressed look crept over her speaking face. |
3. Of likeness, etc.: Striking; true; faithful.
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 40 His face goodlye roset, with speaking forgerye feigned. 1844 Kinglake Eothen xviii, Anybody..could still draw a speaking, nay scolding, likeness of Keate. 1862 Princess Alice Mem. (1884) 40 A most beautiful picture of the Grand Duchess Hélène—quite speaking. |
4. Special
Combs. speaking clock, a telephone service giving the correct time in words (
cf. talking clock s.v. talking ppl. a. 2);
speaking demurrer (see
quot.);
speaking-flame lamp, a safety lamp which announces the presence of explosive gas by giving out a peculiar sound;
speaking stop, a stop key on an organ which permits or prevents the sounding of a rank of pipes.
| 1934 P.O. Electr. Engineers' Jrnl. XXVII. 142/1 For some time past a *speaking clock has been installed in Paris. 1978 ‘H. Carmichael’ Life Cycle xiii. 139 If nobody at Scotland Yard has a watch you could've dialled the Speaking Clock. |
| 1887 Cassell's Encycl. Dict., *Speaking-demurrer, Law, a demurrer in which new facts not appearing upon the face of a bill in equity were introduced to support a demurrer. |
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m, 230 *Speaking-flame lamp. |
| 1938 Oxf. Compan. Mus. 660/2 An organ of 168 actual ‘*speaking stops’ (we so call the stops which really sound, as distinct from other devices.) 1977 Gramophone Mar. 1444/2 This is a very large Compton organ indeed, with 37 speaking stops on the pedal. |