talk

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“
I saw this man give a talk, and I don't even remember what the talk was about, but he had a captivating presence.

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Definitions (98)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (45)

  1. transitive verb To articulate (words): The baby is talking sentences now.
  2. transitive verb To give expression to in words: talk treason.
  3. transitive verb To speak of or discuss (something): talk music; talk business;
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (39)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

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This word has been looked up 178 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

conversation ·  speech ·  story ·  thought ·  meeting ·  question ·  call ·  play ·  remark ·  business ·  song ·  news

Used in the same contextWord Family

talk:   talks ·  talked ·  talking
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English talken; see del-2 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English talken, talkien, talk, speak; with formative -k, with a freq. or diminutive force, used also in smirk, stalk, etc., from talen, talien, speak, tell: see tale, v., formerly a common verb, whose place has been taken by talk, its freq. or diminutive form. According to Skeat, the Middle English talken is derived from Swedish tolka = Danish tolke, interpret, explain, = Icelandic tūlka, interpret, plead one's case, from Swedish Danish tolk = Icelandic tūlkr = D. Middle High German tolk, an interpreter (Middle English tolk, tulk, a man), from Lithuanian tulkas, an interpreter (see tolk); but this notion is inconsistent with the form of the verb (no Middle English form *tolken appears in either sense ‘talk’ or ‘interpret’), with phonetic laws (Middle English *tolken would not change to talken, and would not produce a modern form talk, pron. tâk), and with the sense (‘talk’ and ‘interpret’ being by no means identical or adjacent notions). The fact that the formative -k is not common in Middle English is not an argument against its admission in this case, inasmuch as it does actually occur in stalk, smirk, and other cases. Some confusion with a Middle English *tolken, which, though not found, is paralleled by a Middle Dutch tolcken, interpret, expound, may have occurred.
  2. Early modern English also talke, taulke; from talk, v.
 

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/tɔk/
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