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allocution

[al-uh-kyoo-shuh n]
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noun
  1. a formal speech, especially one of an incontrovertible or hortatory nature.
  2. a pronouncement delivered by the pope to a secret consistory, especially on a matter of policy or of general importance.
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Origin of allocution

1605–15; < Latin allocūtiōn- (stem of allocūtiō), equivalent to allocūt(us), past participle of alloquī to speak to, address (al- al- + locū- speak + -tus past participle suffix) + -iōn- -ion
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for allocution

Historical Examples

  • To this allocution the parliament replied with all servility.

    History of the Rise of the Huguenots

    Henry Baird

  • After that allocution, no one, not even a sub-lieutenant, had the courage to empty his glass.

    El Verdugo

    Honore de Balzac

  • This allocution, pronounced by advocate Desmarais with every appearance of great tenderness, moved the people.

  • He began with an allocution pitched in a tone that would have justified revolt throughout empires.

  • What the effect of this allocution would have been, unsupported by favouring circumstances, it is difficult to say.

    Count Frontenac

    William Dawson LeSueur

British Dictionary definitions for allocution

allocution

noun
  1. rhetoric a formal or authoritative speech or address, esp one that advises, informs, or exhorts
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Word Origin

C17: from Late Latin allocūtiō, from Latin alloquī to address, from loquī to speak
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012