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

As a zombie, his utterances make him seem beastlier than ever to the other humans he encounters.

From Salon

Many analysts have learned to take Musk's utterances with a grain of salt after earlier predictions about the nearness of fully autonomous driving didn't come to pass.

From Barron's

And you couldn’t swing a dead cat at CES without hitting an AI-powered gadget that promises to listen and interpret your every utterance.

From The Wall Street Journal

These “inspired utterances” range from single verses to a poem more than 70 verses long, and serve as testimonials.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• assertion
• pronouncement