sayとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源 1

From Middle English seyen, seien, seggen, from 古期英語 seċġan (“to say, speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-h₁-yé-, a suffixed o-grade form of *sekʷ- (“to tell, talk”).

Cognate with West Frisian sizze (“to say”), Dutch zeggen (“to say”), German sagen (“to say”), Danish sige (“to say”), Norwegian Bokmål si (“to say”), Norwegian Nynorsk seia (“to say”), Swedish säga (“to say”), Yiddish זאָגן‎ (zogn, “to say; to tell”).

The adverb and interjection are from the verb.

別の表記

• saie, saye, seye (廃れた用法)
• thay, zay (pronunciation spelling)

動詞

say (三人称単数 現在形 says, 現在分詞 saying, 過去形および過去分詞形 said)

1. (transitive) To pronounce.

   Please say your name slowly and clearly.

2. (transitive) To recite.

   Martha, will you say the Pledge of Allegiance?

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 53-54:

     Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.

3. (transitive) To tell, either verbally or in writing.

   He said he would be here tomorrow.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:

     No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎^[1]:

     She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     I want to say I’m sorry for yesterday. — It’s okay, Anna.

4. (transitive) To indicate in a written form.

   The sign says it’s 50 kilometres to Paris.

5. (impersonal, transitive) To have a common expression; used in singular passive voice or plural active voice to indicate a rumor or well-known fact.

   They say "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", which means "behave as those around you do."

   • 1815, George Gordon Byron, The Hebrew Melodies "They say that Hope is happiness"

     They say that Hope is happiness; But genuine Love must prize the past.

   • 1819, Great Britain Court of Chancery, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery, page 8:

     It is said, a bargain cannot be set aside upon inadequacy only.

   • 1841, Christopher Marshall, The Knickerbocker (New-York Monthly Magazine), page 379:

     It’s said that fifteen wagon loads of ready-made clothes for the Virginia troops came to, and stay in, town to-night.

6. (informal, imperative, transitive) Suppose, assume; used to mark an example, supposition or hypothesis.

   A holiday somewhere warm – Florida, say – would be nice.

   Say he refuses. What do we do then?

   Say your family is starving and you don't have any money, is it okay to steal some food?

   • 1984, Martin Amis, Money: a suicide note:

     I've followed Selina down the strip, when we're shopping, say, and she strolls on ahead, wearing sawn-off jeans and a wash-withered T-shirt […]

7. (intransitive) To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
   • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 195:

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

   • 1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC, page 63:

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

8. (transitive, informal, of a possession, especially money) To bet as a wager on an outcome; by extension, used to express belief in an outcome by the speaker.
   • 2005, Ian McEwan, Saturday, page 192:

     'My fifty pounds says three months after the invasion there'll be a free press in Iraq, and unmonitored internet access too.'

Conjugation

同意語

派生語

名詞

say (複数形 says)

1. A chance to speak; the right or power to influence or make a decision.
   • 2004, Richard Rogers, Information politics on the Web:

     Above all, however, we would like to think that there is more to be decided, after the engines and after the humans have had their says.

   • 2019 February 8, Olarn, Kocha; Regan, Helen, “This princess could be the next prime minister of Thailand”, in CNN International Edition‎^[2], Cable News Network, retrieved 2019-02-08:

     He has consolidated the military's role in politics through an army-drafted 2017 constitution widely seen as designed to prevent Pheu Thai from returning to power and ensuring a continuing say for the army.

   • 2019 March 22, Tanakasempipat, Patpicha; Thepgumpanat, Panarat, “Junta chief croons, ousted PM says 'we will win' in Thai election battle”, in Reuters‎^[3], Reuters, retrieved 2019-03-23:

     Sunday’s general election has been cast as a high-stakes contest between democracy and military rule, but critics say a new army-backed constitution gives junta-appointed officials a large say in the next government.

副詞

say (not comparable)

1. For example; let us assume.
   • 1894, Miller, T, “Chapter 1”, in Over Five Seas and Oceans, From New York to Bangkok, Siam, and Return, New York: Albert Metz & Co., page 13:

     He was a very old man, and was heavy, say about 250 pounds.

   Pick a color you think they'd like, say, peach.

   He was driving pretty fast, say, fifty miles per hour.