allocution

[ al-uh-kyoo-shuh n ]

/ ˌæl əˈkyu ʃən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR allocution ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a formal speech, especially one of an incontrovertible or hortatory nature.

a pronouncement delivered by the pope to a secret consistory, especially on a matter of policy or of general importance.

Nearby words

allochromasia, allochromatic, allochthon, allochthonous, allocortex, allocution, allod, allodial, allodium, allodynia, alloerotism

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for allocution

She took the final vows a year later, when Bossuet pronounced the allocution.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 3|Various
It falls generally into the form of an allocution, even where it is descriptive.
Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol. 2|Charles Dudley Warner
What the effect of this allocution would have been, unsupported by favouring circumstances, it is difficult to say.
Count Frontenac|William Dawson LeSueur
The allocution under consideration has a certain papal flavour.
Collected Essays, Volume V|T. H. Huxley

To this allocution the parliament replied with all servility.
History of the Rise of the Huguenots|Henry Baird

British Dictionary definitions for allocution

allocution

/ (ˌæləˈkjuːʃən) /

noun

rhetoric a formal or authoritative speech or address, esp one that advises, informs, or exhorts

Word Origin for allocution

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