utterance means an act of, or the process of, uttering.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, utterance ranks #16,750 of 42,762 for Qualifying.
utterance is pronounced /ˈʌtəɹəns/.
Etymology
From Middle English utteraunce, outeraunce; equivalent to utter + -ance.
noun
- An act of, or the process of, uttering.e.g.“at length gave utterance to these words” — 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished
- An instance of that act or process: especially, something spoken (e.g., syllables, words, phrases); (especially linguistics) any such thing either spoken or written.e.g.“And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.” — 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, “XXVA”, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 203:
- The ability to speak.e.g.“Mrs. Weston kissed her with tears of joy; and when she could find utterance, assured her, that this protestation had done her more good than any thing else in the world could do.” — 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter X, in Emma: […], volume III, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 175:
- A manner of speaking.e.g.“He has a good utterance.”
- A sale made by offering to the public.e.g.“The clothemakers[…] had great profite and good utterance of the sayd cloth” — a. 1564, King Edward IV of England, a royal decree:
- An act of putting in circulation.e.g.“the utterance of false coin, or of forged notes”
- The utmost extremity, especially of a fight; bodily harm or death.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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