speaker

¹ American  

[spee-ker] / ˈspi kər /

noun

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.

---

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.

---

speaker ¹ British  

/ ˈspiːkə /

noun

1. a person who speaks, esp at a formal occasion

2. See loudspeaker

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

• nonspeaker noun
• speakership noun

Etymology

Origin of speaker

Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; speak, -er ¹

Example Sentences

In a message sent to the law school Thursday, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said that students may “choose speakers based on their views” but cannot have bylaws that ban specific types of speakers.

From Los Angeles Times

Ghalibaf's varied experience, which spans military and civilian life, has seen him work as commander of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace corps, Tehran police chief, Tehran mayor and now speaker of parliament.

From Barron's

“Sometimes you can put a person on speaker and they are really talking to themselves,” she says.

From MarketWatch

Amazon's Echo smart speaker - more commonly known as Alexa - is getting an AI-powered upgrade which will roll out across the UK.

From BBC

A Russian speaker who grew up in Soviet times, Eyyub spent time at the Putin ally’s hunting lodge and got invited to his birthday parties.

From The Wall Street Journal