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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

Lewis, a proud Welsh speaker from Neath, started translating some of her favourite tunes in 2024, landed on the Parton classic and recorded a video of herself singing it.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

It’s also where he met Lori Beth Graham, an evangelist and frequent speaker at the center who described herself as a survivor of an abusive marriage and a hard-partying lifestyle as a youth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Hastert was one of Washington's most powerful politicians during eight years as House speaker from 1999 to 2007, a position that placed him second in the line of succession to the presidency.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

Hastert, the longest-serving Republican speaker in history, suffered a stroke in 2015 that hospitalized him for an extended period.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

My wobbly voice squeaked, and the speaker shot out feedback.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

In early August, Ellison tapped former California Assembly Speaker and Democratic power broker Fabian Núñez to help build political support for the deal in Sacramento.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Attorney General Letitia James has brought suits against competitors with similar claims, and New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin has raised a possible investigation into the companies’ marketing practices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas’ office didn’t reply to a request for comment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

A group of House Democrats calling for Congress to be given more time to debate the issue have also written a letter to Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, who would ultimately decide on delaying the recess.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax dropped by a half hour ago and was granted a few minutes of Lincoln’s time.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

The pilot can issue commands to the shooter through the drones’ speakers until police arrive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

A decade in the making, this eight-cabinet, horn-loaded, in-the-round custom rig of monolithic wooden speakers will act as the show’s second stage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

There are still a slew of Fed speakers on tap for the week ahead that could influence a jittery bond market, as well as minutes of September’s central-bank meeting, due on Wednesday.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 4, 2026

"We were shooting in town, and someone drove past blaring World of Our Own out of the speakers," he tells Newsbeat.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

After consulting with Chinese speakers, she and her team were able to crack key portions of that message within a week.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield