Say
Say (sā) , imperfect
Saw. [obsolete] — Chaucer
Say (sā) , noun
[Aphetic form of assay.]
1.
Trial by sample; assay; sample; specimen; smack. [Obsolete]
If those principal works of God... be but certain tastes and says, as it were, of that final benefit.
Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes.
2.
Tried quality; temper; proof. [Obsolete]
He found a sword of better say.
3.
Essay; trial; attempt. [Obsolete]
Collocations (1)
To give a say at , to attempt. — B. Jonson
Say , transitive verb
To try; to assay. [Obsolete] — B. Jonson
Say , noun
[Old English saie, French saie, from Latin saga, equiv. to sagum, sagus, a coarse woolen mantle; compare Greek sa`gos. See Sagum.]
1.
A kind of silk or satin. [Obsolete]
Thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord!
2.
A delicate kind of serge, or woolen cloth. [Obsolete]
His garment neither was of silk nor say.
Say (sed) , transitive verb
[Old English seggen, seyen, siggen, sayen, sayn, Anglo-Saxon secgan; akin to Old Saxon seggian, Dutch zeggen, LG. seggen, Old High German sagēn, German sagen, Icelandic segja, Swedish saga, Danish sige, Lithuanian sakyti; compare Old Latin insece tell, relate, Greek 'e`nnepe (for 'en-sepe), 'e`spete. Compare Saga, Saw a saying.]
1.
To utter or express in words; to tell; to speak; to declare; as, he said many wise things.
Arise, and say how thou camest here.
2.
To repeat; to rehearse; to recite; to pronounce; as, to say a lesson.
Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated
In what thou hadst to say?
After which shall be said or sung the following hymn.
3.
To announce as a decision or opinion; to state positively; to assert; hence, to form an opinion upon; to be sure about; to be determined in mind as to.
But what it is, hard is to say.
4.
To mention or suggest as an estimate, hypothesis, or approximation; hence, to suppose; -- in the imperative, followed sometimes by the subjunctive; as, he had, say fifty thousand dollars; the fox had run, say ten miles.
Say, for nonpayment that the debt should double,
Is twenty hundred kisses such a trouble?
Collocations (2)
It is said or They say , it is commonly reported; it is rumored; people assert or maintain.
That is to say , that is; in other words; otherwise.
Say , intransitive verb
To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge.
To this argument we shall soon have said; for what concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household privacies?
Say , noun
[From Say, transitive verb; compare Saw a saying.]
A speech; something said; an expression of opinion; a current story; a maxim or proverb. [Archaic or Colloquial]
He no sooner said out his say, but up rises a cunning snap.
That strange palmer's boding say,
That fell so ominous and drear
Full on the object of his fear.