SAY, v.t. pret. and pp. said, contracted from sayed.

A speech; something said. [In popular use, but not elegant.]

1. A sample. [Obs.] – Sidney.
2. Trial by sample. [Obs.] – Boyle.

A thin silk. [Obs.]

1. To speak; to utter in words; as, he said nothing; he said many things; he says not a word. Say a good word for me. It is observable that although this word is radically synonymous with speak and tell, yet the uses or applications of these words are different. Thus we say, to speak an oration, to tell a story; but in these phrases, say can not be used. Yet to say a lesson is good English, though not very elegant. We never use the phrases, to say a sermon or discourse, to say an argument, to say a speech, to say testimony. A very general use of say is to introduce a relation, narration or recital, either of the speaker himself or of something said or done or to be done by another. Thus Adam said, this is bone of my bone; Noah said, blessed be the Lord God of Shem. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Say to the cities of Judah, behold your God. I can not say what I should do in a similar case. Say thus precedes a sentence. But it is perhaps impracticable to reduce the peculiar and appropriate uses of say, speak and tell to general rules. They can be learnt only by observation.
2. To declare. – Gen. xxxvii.
3. To utter; to pronounce. Say now Shibboleth. – Judg. xii.
4. To utter, as a command. God said, let there be light. – Gen. i.
5. To utter, as a promise. – Luke xxiii.
6. To utter, as a question or answer. Mark xi.
7. To affirm; to teach. – Matth. xvii.
8. To confess. – Luke xvii.
9. To testify. – Acts xxiv.
10. To argue; to alledge by way of argument. After all that can be said against a thing. – Tillotson.
11. To repeat; to rehearse; to recite; as, to say a lesson.
12. To pronounce; to recite without singing. Then shall be said or sung as follows.
13. To report; as, in the phrases, it is said, they say.
14. To answer; to utter by way of reply; to tell. Say, Stella, feel you no content, Reflecting on a life well spent? – Swift. Note. This verb is not properly intransitive. In the phrase, “as when we say, Plato is no fool,” the last clause is the object after the verb; that is, “we say what follows.” If this verb is properly intransitive in any case, it is in the phrase, “that is to say,” but in such cases, the subsequent clause is the object of the verb, being that which is said, uttered or related.

1. Saw.
   
   
   Chaucer.
2. Trial by sample; assay; sample; specimen; smack.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   If those principal works of God . . . be but certain tastes and says, as it were, of that final benefit. Hooker.

   Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes. Shak.

3. To try; to assay.
   
   
   [Obs.] B. Jonson.
4. A kind of silk or satin.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   Thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord! Shak.

5. To utter or express in words; to tell; to speak; to declare; as, he said many wise things.
   
   

   Arise, and say how thou camest here. Shak.

6. To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
   
   

   You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge. Shak.

   To this argument we shall soon have said; for what concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household privacies? Milton.

7. A speech; something said; an expression of opinion; a current story; a maxim or proverb.
   
   
   [Archaic or Colloq.]

   He no sooner said out his say, but up rises a cunning snap. L'Estrange.

   That strange palmer's boding say,
   That fell so ominous and drear
   Full on the object of his fear. Sir W. Scott.

8. Tried quality; temper; proof.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   He found a sword of better say. Spenser.

9. A delicate kind of serge, or woolen cloth.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   His garment neither was of silk nor say. Spenser.

10. To repeat; to rehearse; to recite; to pronounce; as, to say a lesson.
    
    

    Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated
    In what thou hadst to say? Shak.

    After which shall be said or sung the following hymn. Bk. of Com. Prayer.

11. Essay; trial; attempt.
    
    
    [Obs.]

    To give a say at, to attempt. B. Jonson.

12. To announce as a decision or opinion; to state positively; to assert; hence, to form an opinion upon; to be sure about; to be determined in mind as to.
    
    

    But what it is, hard is to say. Milton.

13. To mention or suggest as an estimate, hypothesis, or approximation; hence, to suppose; -- in the imperative, followed sometimes by the subjunctive; as, he had, say fifty thousand dollars; the fox had run, say ten miles.
    
    

    Say, for nonpayment that the debt should double,
    Is twenty hundred kisses such a trouble? Shak.

    It is said, or They say, it is commonly reported; it is rumored; people assert or maintain. - - That is to say, that is; in other words; otherwise.