noun
Meaning 1
A proverb or maxim.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
saying
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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UK, US: /ˈseɪ.ɪŋ/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -eɪɪŋ
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CMU ARPABET: S EY1 IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
That which is said; an utterance.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
present participle and gerund of say
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- pardon the expression
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: expression, locution
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: speech, speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, language, voice communication, oral communication
Narrower terms: Beatitude, logion, calque, calque formation, loan translation, advice and consent, ambiguity, euphemism, dysphemism, shucks, tongue twister, anatomical reference, anatomical, southernism, motto, slogan, catchword, shibboleth, maxim, axiom, epigram, quip, proverb, adage, saw, byword, idiom, idiomatic expression, phrasal idiom, set phrase, phrase, agrapha, sumpsimus
History
Etymology
From say + -ing.
Across languages
Translations
95 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: قَوْل (qawl) — proverb or maxim
- Arabic: قول (gōl) — proverb or maxim
- Armenian: առած (aṙac) — proverb or maxim
- Belarusian: пры́маўка (prýmawka) — proverb or maxim
- Belarusian: пры́казка (prýkazka) — proverb or maxim
- Belarusian: прысло́ўе (pryslówje) — proverb or maxim
- Bulgarian: погово́рка (pogovórka) — proverb or maxim
- Bulgarian: пословица (poslovica) — proverb or maxim
- Catalan: dita — proverb or maxim
- Catalan: proverbi — proverb or maxim
- Chinese Mandarin: 說法 /说法 (shuōfǎ) — proverb or maxim
- Chinese Mandarin: 諺語 /谚语 (yànyǔ) — proverb or maxim
- Chinese Mandarin: 常言 (chángyán) — proverb or maxim
- Czech: rčení — proverb or maxim
- Czech: přísloví — proverb or maxim
- Dutch: gezegde — proverb or maxim
- Dutch: spreekwoord — proverb or maxim
- Esperanto: sentenco — proverb or maxim
- Finnish: sanonta — proverb or maxim
- French: dicton — proverb or maxim
- Galician: dito — proverb or maxim
- German: Sprichwort — proverb or maxim
- German: Ausspruch — proverb or maxim
- German: Redensart — proverb or maxim
- Greek: απόφθεγμα (apófthegma) — proverb or maxim
- Greek: παροιμία (paroimía) — proverb or maxim
- Greek: ρητό (ritó) — proverb or maxim
- Ancient Greek: παροιμία (paroimía) — proverb or maxim
- Hungarian: mondás — proverb or maxim
- Hungarian: közmondás — proverb or maxim
- Hungarian: szólásmondás — proverb or maxim
- Indonesian: pepatah — proverb or maxim
- Interlingua: dicto — proverb or maxim
- Interlingua: proverbio — proverb or maxim
- Irish: nath — proverb or maxim
- Italian: proverbio — proverb or maxim
- Italian: detto — proverb or maxim
- Italian: massima — proverb or maxim
- Japanese: 格言 (kakugen) — proverb or maxim
- Korean: 격언 (gyeogeon) — proverb or maxim
- Korean: 속담 (sokdam) — proverb or maxim
- Latin: dictum — proverb or maxim
- Latin: fatus — proverb or maxim
- Latin: ēlogium — proverb or maxim
- Luxembourgish: Sprachwuert — proverb or maxim
- Luxembourgish: Sproch — proverb or maxim
- Macedonian: поговорка (pogovorka) — proverb or maxim
- Macedonian: изрека (izreka) — proverb or maxim
- Macedonian: пословица (poslovica) — proverb or maxim
- Malayalam: പഴമൊഴി (paḻamoḻi) — proverb or maxim
- Malayalam: പഴഞ്ചൊല്ല് (paḻañcollŭ) — proverb or maxim
- Marathi: म्हण (mhaṇ) — proverb or maxim
- Marathi: लोकोक्ती (lokoktī) — proverb or maxim
- Māori: tūātau — proverb or maxim
- Māori: whakapepeha — proverb or maxim
- Māori: kīanga — proverb or maxim
- Māori: tongikura — proverb or maxim
- Plautdietsch: Saj — proverb or maxim
- Polish: powiedzenie — proverb or maxim
- Portuguese: ditado — proverb or maxim
- Portuguese: provérbio — proverb or maxim
- Romanian: zicală — proverb or maxim
- Romanian: proverb — proverb or maxim
- Romanian: zicătoare — proverb or maxim
- Russian: посло́вица (poslóvica) — proverb or maxim
- Russian: погово́рка (pogovórka) — proverb or maxim
- Russian: при́сказка (prískazka) — proverb or maxim
- Russian: присло́вье (prislóvʹje) — proverb or maxim
- Serbo-Croatian: poslovica — proverb or maxim
- Serbo-Croatian: izreka — proverb or maxim
- Slovak: rčenie — proverb or maxim
- Slovak: príslovie — proverb or maxim
- Spanish: dicho — proverb or maxim
- Spanish: proverbio — proverb or maxim
- Spanish: refrán — proverb or maxim
- Spanish: retraher — proverb or maxim
- Spanish: adagio — proverb or maxim
- Swahili: msemo — proverb or maxim
- Swedish: talesätt — proverb or maxim
- Swedish: ordspråk — proverb or maxim
- Swedish: ordstäv — proverb or maxim
- Tagalog: sabi — proverb or maxim
- Tagalog: kasabihan — proverb or maxim
- Turkish: atasözü — proverb or maxim
- Turkish: özdeyiş — proverb or maxim
- Ukrainian: при́казка (prýkazka) — proverb or maxim
- Ukrainian: прислі́в'я (pryslívʺja) — proverb or maxim
- Urdu: کہاوت (kahāvat) — proverb or maxim
- Vietnamese: câu nói — proverb or maxim
- Walloon: spot — proverb or maxim
- Walloon: dijhêye — proverb or maxim
- Welsh: dywediad — proverb or maxim
- Yiddish: שפּריכוואָרט (shprikhvort) — proverb or maxim
- Yiddish: פֿאָלקסווערטל (folksvertl) — proverb or maxim
- Yiddish: וועלטסווערטל (veltsvertl) — proverb or maxim
Real reading context