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• speaker
  speaker

  noun

  a person who speaks.
• Speaker
  Speaker

  noun

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

speaker

¹ American  

[spee-ker] / ˈspi kər /

noun

speakers plural

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.

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idioms

1. be / not be on speakers, speaking.

Speaker ² American  

[spee-ker] / ˈspi kər /

noun

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

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speaker ¹ British  

/ ˈspiːkə /

noun

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

2. See loudspeaker

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Speaker ² British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonspeaker
  noun
• speakership
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• speakers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of speaker

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

Explanation

A speaker is someone who delivers a speech or a device that makes sounds louder. The speaker gave a great speech but you couldn't hear it because the speaker was turned off. Speaker has a few different meanings, from the person who addresses a group, to the piece of equipment that amplifies sound to someone who is fluent in a particular language. For example, a native Spanish speaker can usually tell if someone learned the language in high school because textbooks don't always include the slang and idioms of everyday speech.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

speaker Speaker speakers

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries opposed the amendment, but his deputy Katherine Clark voted for it, as did former speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of Congress's longest-serving defenders of the alliance.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

Bovard later invited Akil back as a guest speaker.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

It then received royal assent and is now law, Commons deputy speaker Judith Cummins told MPs on Wednesday.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

Iran’s lead negotiator in the talks with the U.S., parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, quoted the clause in arguing on social media that Iran controls the strait.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

He lives in Hampden town, and has published a book of photographs of the college through the years, which has made him much sought-after as an after-dinner speaker at the various clubs in town.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

"To my wife and children, I love you. Goodbye," the PM said, before several MPs stood up and clapped for Starmer as he went to shake the Speaker of the House of Commons' hand.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

"This morning a shooting occurred in Biddeford. A person was killed. ICE was involved," Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau wrote on Facebook.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

“Obviously, that’s something that Speaker Pelosi has done quite a lot of in her career.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

In May 2026, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other prominent officials participated in a prayer service in Washington, D.C.

From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026

The Apurimac River, the Great Speaker, gurgled far below along the base of Machu Picchu mountain.

From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis

When Potti Sriramulu began fasting in October 1952, he was asking for something then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had repeatedly resisted: a separate state for Telugu speakers.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

People were swarming vendors from eateries all around Koreatown, dance circles formed around speakers blasting banda music, and “oohs” and “ahhs” at every missed shot were in perfect sync.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

But it is also gaining traction with Chinese speakers in countries like Malaysia and Singapore -- and not just among young women.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

But the man’s family and speakers at the vigil have said that description of events was unlikely, both because of Salgado Araujo’s nature and because they did not trust the agency’s recounting.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

The control room crew quickly pumped show tunes through all the speakers under the dome to cover the awkward silence.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein