speaker

¹

[spee-ker]

noun

1. a person who speaks.

2. a person who speaks formally before an audience; lecturer; orator.

3. (usually initial capital letter),  the presiding officer of the U.S. House of Representatives, the British House of Commons, or other such legislative assembly.

4. Also called loudspeaker. an electroacoustic device, often housed in a cabinet, that is connected as a component in an audio system, its function being to make speech or music audible.

5. a book of selections for practice in declamation.

Speaker

²

[spee-ker]

noun

1. Tris(tram E.), 1888–1958, U.S. baseball player.

speaker

¹

/ ˈspiːkə /

noun

1. a person who speaks, esp at a formal occasion

2. See loudspeaker

Speaker

²

/ ˈspiːkə /

noun

1. the presiding officer in any of numerous legislative bodies, including the House of Commons in Britain and Canada and the House of Representatives in the US, Australia, and New Zealand

Other Word Forms

• speakership noun
• nonspeaker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of speaker¹

Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; speak, -er ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. be / not be on speakers, speaking.

Example Sentences

We don’t actually hear the speaker make their case.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Minutes earlier one of the speakers had shouted: "Keep Britain white. Keep Scotland white. Keep Scotland Scottish."

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When pressed Tuesday on why he needed to wait for the full House’s return to hold the ceremony, the speaker told CNN that “we’ll schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants.”

Read more on Salon

With more than 200 million speakers, Swahili is one of the world's 10 most widely spoken languages.

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Gay joined a collective of notable speakers the night of the center’s official launch, which took place at Central L.A. start-up gallery Giovanni’s Room and was co-hosted with the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Read more on Los Angeles Times