speken
Middle English
Etymology
From Old English specan, from the earlier sprecan, from Proto-Germanic *sprekaną.
Verb
speken (third-person singular simple present speketh, present participle spekinge, simple past spak, past participle speken)
- to speak (communicate using the voice)
- a. 1382, John Wycliffe, “Psalms 108:1-3”, in Wycliffe's Bible:
- The title of the hundrid and eiȝtthe ſalm. To victorye, the ſalm of Dauid. / God, holde thou not ſtille my preiſyng; for the mouth of the ſynner, and the mouth of the gileful man is openyd on me. / Thei ſpaken ayens me with a gileful tunge, and thei cumpassiden me with wordis of hatrede; and fouȝten ayens me with out cauſe.
- The title of the one hundred and eighth psalm: "To Victory; the Psalm of David"/ / God; don't hold still my praising, as the mouths of the sinners and the mouths of the guilty have opened against me. / They spoke against me with a guilty tongue, they acted against me with words of hatred, and they fought against me without justification.
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- 14th Century, Chaucer, General Prologue
- And whan that he wel dronken hadde the wyn,
Than wolde he speke no word but Latyn.- And when he had drunk all the wine
He would not speak a word other than Latin
- And when he had drunk all the wine
- And whan that he wel dronken hadde the wyn,
Conjugation
Conjugation of speken (strong class 5)
infinitive | (to) speken | |
---|---|---|
indicative | present | past |
1st person singular | speke | spak(e) |
2nd person singular | spekest | spakest |
3rd person singular | spekeþ | spak(e) |
plural | spekeþ, speken | spaken |
subjunctive | present | past |
singular | speke | spake |
plural | speken | spaken |
imperative | present | |
singular | speke, speek | |
plural | spekeþ | |
participle | present | past |
spekende, spekinge | (y)speken |
Derived terms
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