DictionaryAI

say

SAY/seɪ/

Formssays, saying, said

Often confused with tell

16 meanings of say

Practice

  1. 1
    expressverbtransitive
    To express something in words, in speech or writing, such as a fact, an opinion, or an answer.

    She says the train is late.

    I can't say what happened next.

    UsageYou say something to someone but tell someone something: she said to me (not incorrect: she said me), she told me.

    Similarstate, report, mention

    Note

    Writing counts too. A servant can arrive with a message to say his master will shortly join you.

  2. 2
    rumorverbtransitive
    Used in the passive or with they to pass on a common expression, rumor or well-known fact.

    People say the bridge will never be finished.

    They say a watched pot never boils.

    UsageAlso be said to + verb, for a belief about one person or thing: the house is said to be haunted.

    Similarclaim, reckon, allege, maintain

    Note

    Common report has no speaker, and the grammar shows it. Either they stands for nobody in particular, as in Byron's line they say that Hope is happiness, or the passive takes an empty it: it is said, the formula a Chancery law report uses for received doctrine. Both frames usually introduce a proverb, a rumor or an accepted fact rather than one person's remark.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Byron wrote the line “They say that Hope is happiness”. en.wikisource.org
    • A Chancery law report uses “It is said” to introduce a legal proposition. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 3
    verbtransitive
    Of a written or displayed thing, to indicate or show.

    The label says to wash it cold.

    The letter didn't say when she was coming.

    UsageCommon patterns: the sign says to wait, and it says on the box that it fits.

    Similarindicate, read, state, show, specify

    Note

    Here the speaker is an object: a sign, a clock face, a page. It is the ordinary "tell" meaning with the teller swapped for an object, which is why a book can say something on page ten.

  4. 4
    verbtransitive
    To pronounce or speak words aloud, including repeating or reciting a set text such as a prayer or poem.

    She said the name twice to be sure.

    Say it again, louder.

    Similarpronounce, utter, speak, recite, repeat

  5. 5
    for exampleadverb
    For example, or as a rough estimate; let us assume.

    Bring a few friends, say, six or seven.

    Meet me at, say, half past three.

    UsageSet it off with commas, often before a number: meet at, say, three; bring, say, six people.

    Similarroughly, approximately, about, around

    Oppositeexactly, precisely

    Note

    The parenthetical form offers an example or an estimate in passing, fenced off by commas: pick a color, say, peach. With numbers it marks a rough figure, not a precise one: say, fifty miles per hour, or a nineteenth-century traveler's say about 250 pounds. It sits very close to the imperative of supposing, and the two are often hard to tell apart.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of say apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–10

"Say" comes from Middle English "seyen" and Old English "secgan" ("to say, speak"), from Proto-Germanic "*sagjaną" and ultimately a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to tell, talk." It is related to Dutch "zeggen," German "sagen," and Swedish "säga." The adverb and interjection come from the verb.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

Meaning 15

Latin "sagum" meant "military cloak," and its plural "saga" became Middle French "saie," the source of this sense.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Meanings 11–14

This is an aphetic (shortened) form of "assay."

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact