utterance

¹ American  

[uht-er-uhns] / ˈʌt ər əns /

noun

1. an act of uttering; utter; uttering; vocal expression.

2. manner of speaking; power of speaking.

   His very utterance was spellbinding.

3. something uttered; utter; a word or words uttered; utter; a cry, animal's call, or the like.

4. Linguistics. any speech sequence consisting of one or more words and preceded and followed by silence: it may be coextensive with a sentence.

5. Obsolete. a public sale of goods.

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utterance ² American  

[uht-er-uhns] / ˈʌt ər əns /

noun

Archaic.

1. the utmost extremity, especially death.

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utterance ¹ British  

/ ˈʌtərəns /

noun

1. something uttered, such as a statement

2. the act or power of uttering or the ability to utter

3. logic philosophy an element of spoken language, esp a sentence Compare inscription

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utterance ² British  

/ ˈʌtərəns /

noun

1. archaic the bitter end (esp in the phrase to the utterance )

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Etymology

Origin of utterance¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; utter ¹, -ance

Origin of utterance²

1350–1400; Middle English < Old French outrance, oultrance, equivalent to oultr ( er ) to pass beyond (< Latin ultrā beyond) + -ance -ance

Example Sentences

Private, lyric utterances—expressions of personhood—complement public statements.

From The Wall Street Journal

Yet once divulged, her radiant inner life colors every utterance.

From Los Angeles Times

"When an age ends and the soul of a nation finds utterance. Tonight we step out from the old to the new," Mamdani continued.

From BBC

Their every utterance was akin to a 'is this all you've got?' message to their visitors.

From BBC

How ever this plays out, he’s not saying anything now, which was obvious when he answered the first question at his media day news conference with dodgy utterances.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• assertion
• pronouncement