Dictionary.com
definitions

part of speech

noun Grammar.

any of the classes into which words in some languages, as Latin and English, have traditionally been divided on the basis of their meaning, form, or syntactic function, as, in English, noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

RELATED CONTENT

What Is Freedom of Speech?Which amendment gives us freedom of speech? “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” -First Amendment to the Constitution We Americans love to refer to the First …
READ MORE
The Chiefs of Presidential SpeechRead more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.
READ MORE

Nearby words

  1. part and parcel,
  2. part company,
  3. part exchange,
  4. part music,
  5. part of fortune,
  6. part song,
  7. part time,
  8. part way,
  9. part with,
  10. part work

Origin of part of speech

First recorded in 1500–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for part of speech

part of speech

noun

a class of words sharing important syntactic or semantic features; a group of words in a language that may occur in similar positions or fulfil similar functions in a sentence. The chief parts of speech in English are noun, pronoun, adjective, determiner, adverb, verb, preposition, conjunction, and interjectionAbbreviation: POS
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
Word Origin and History for part of speech

part of speech

n.

c.1500, translating Latin pars orationis (see parse). Noun, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. Sometimes article and participle are counted among them.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper