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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

He was the last speaker of the three-hour event, and thunder had been audible outside for over an hour.

From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026

The country’s president and its parliamentary speaker say Tehran needs to negotiate an exit and shore up its economy while it has leverage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

Lindell lost by 11 points to the Minnesota house speaker, Lisa Demuth, but did not graciously concede.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

Banners reading "249 articles in 22 days" were brandished at a Monday vigil in central London attended by thousands of people, in which speaker after speaker attacked the media's role in the scandal.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

I watch how Keira makes sure to look up as she reads from her paper and takes deep breaths between sentences like an expert speaker, and I make a mental note to try that.

From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan

House Speaker Dustin Burrows also has not publicly commented.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

Asked about the allegations against Miller, House Speaker Mike Johnson told the press, “The key word there is ‘allegation.’

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

Speaker Mike Johnson and other senior House Republicans have largely avoided commenting, while Ohio congressmen Jim Jordan and Mike Turner described the accusations as a private or judicial matter.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

Moroun has since donated $150,000 to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s joint fundraising PAC.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

And now and then the Speaker mentioned it.

From "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

Illinois’s statute was recently amended to give greater protection to speakers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

Switching between similar languages may require greater control because speakers must continually manage competing words and language systems.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

"Dear friends, we live in a wonderful country!" declares one of the speakers.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

At the St. Petersburg Economic Forum in June, Mr. Shuvalov pushed back against hawkish speakers who advocated putting the country on a war footing with state management of the economy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Seated in the rear of the church was Sheriff Clark with a bunch of his armed deputies, recording the names of people who attended the meeting and taking notes on everything the speakers said.

From "Because They Marched" by Russell Freedman