Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

speak to en · VERB

Pronunciation

Etymology

First used in 1610 in the sense of 'discuss'. Use for the meaning of 'bespeak' is attested since the 1960s.

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) To give evidence regarding something; to attest or provide evidence for; to bespeak.
    • This definitely speaks to the fact that at Georgetown, beginning at the admissions process, you're not a number but a real person. 2006, Staff of Vault, The College Buzz Book, page 176:
    • Leaving aside the abundance of negativity for the time being, in aggregate these attempts at definition speak to the multitude of linguistic phenomena characteristic of language hybridity in multilingual settings, albeit explained with differing emphases by different definers. 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 7:
  2. (idiomatic) To address a particular topic.
    • Education for being speaks to what grows within the person himself 1981, McGill journal of education:
  3. (idiomatic) To (figuratively) resonate with; to feel emotionally relevant to.
    • With its pastel cover and pro-LGBTQ+ anthem “You Need to Calm Down,” Lover got a ton of airplay in that two-bedroom apartment. And the breakup songs—“Death by a Thousand Cuts,” “I Forgot That You Existed”—certainly spoke to me. 2023 August 31, Frankie de la Cretaz, “Postcard from Camp Gaylore”, in Cosmopolitan:
    • His music really speaks to me.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
spoken to Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
speaks to Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
speaking to Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
spoke to Tense=Past lexicographic

Translations (20)

fi perustella (to give evidence regarding something) · fr toucher (to resonate with) · la colloquor (to address a particular topic) · la alloquor (to give evidence regarding something) · la colloquor (to resonate with) · la alloquor (to address a particular topic) · fi käsitellä (to address a particular topic) · es evidenciar (to give evidence regarding something) · la alloquor (to resonate with) · fi puhutella (to resonate with) · fr montrer (to give evidence regarding something) · fi osoittaa (to give evidence regarding something) · fr démontrer (to give evidence regarding something) · la affor (to give evidence regarding something) · it riguardare (to give evidence regarding something) · it concernere (to address a particular topic) · es translucir (to give evidence regarding something) · la colloquor (to give evidence regarding something) · it dimostrare (to give evidence regarding something) · it colpire (to resonate with)