say 
"And sun," he said, " I Ball the say 
Wharliy them sail ken the way." 
Hull/ Rood (E. E. T. S.), p. lili. 
" Now, good Mirabell, what is best?" quod she, 
" What shall I doo? saye me your good avise." 
Oenerydeg (E. E. T. s.), 1. 32:i6. 
Well, my thy message. Marlowe, Edw. II., iii. 11. 
Say in brief the cause 
Why thou departed'st from thy native home. 
Shak.,C. ofE., I. 1. 29. 
3. To recount; repeat; rehearse; recite: as, 
to say a lesson or one's prayers; to say mass; 
to say grace. 
They . . . seyden hire ensaraples many >.m. 
Chanter, Good Women, 1. 1850. 
What Tongue shall say 
Thy Wars on Land, thy Triumphs on the Main? 
Prior, Ode to the Queen, st 3. 
The "Angelas," as it is now said in all Catholic coun- 
tries, did not come into use before the beginning of the 
xvi. century, and seems to have commenced in France. 
Rock, Church of our Fathers, III i. 339. 
4f. To call ; declare or suppose to be. 
Bycanse euery thing that by nature fals down is said 
heany, & whataoeuer naturally mounts vpward is said 
light, it gaue occasion to say that there were diuersities 
in the motion of the voice. 
Pvttenham-, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 65. 
5. To utter as an opinion; decide; judge and 
determine. 
But what it is, hard is to say, 
Harder to hit. Milton, 8. A., 1. 1018. 
6. To suppose ; assume to be true or correct ; 
take for granted : often in an imperative form, 
in the sense of 'let us say,' 'we may say,' 'we 
shall say ' : as, the number left behind was not 
great, say only five. 
Well, say there is no kingdom then for Richard ; 
What other pleasure can the world afford? 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ill. 2. 140. 
Say that a man should entertain thee now; 
Wouldst thou be honest, humble, just, and true? 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, ii. 3. 
Say I were guilty, sir, 
I would be hang d before I would confess. 
Fletcher, Pilgrim, Ii. 1. 
7. To gainsay ; contradict; answer. [Colloq.] 
"I told you so," said the farmer, "... but you wouldn't 
beotd." Tmllopt, Phineas Finn, xxiv. 
I dare say. See darei. Itis said, they say, it is com- 
monly reported ; people assert or maintain. It says, an 
impersonal usage, equivalent to 'it is said.' 
It tai/xin the New Testament that the dead came out of 
their graves. W. Collins, Dead Secret. 
That is to say, that is; in other words; otherwise.- 
To go without saving. See <ro. To hear say. See 
hear. To say an ape's paternoster. See ape. to 
say (one's) beads. Hee to bid beads, under bead. To 
say (any one) nay. See nay. To say neither baft* nor 
bufft. See to/i. To say the devil's paternoster. 
See devil. To say to, to think of ; Judge of ; be of opinion 
regarding. 
What my you to a letter from your friends? 
Shak., T. O. of V., ii. 4. 51. 
= Syn. Say, Speak, Tell, Slate. Each of these words has 
its peculiar idiomatic uses. We speak an oration, and tell 
a story, but do not say either of them. We say prayers or 
a lesson, but do not speak or tell them, although the one 
praying may tell his beads. Say is the most common word 
before a quotation direct or indirect : Adam said, "This 
is now bone of my bones "(Gen. ii. 23); "If we set/ that we 
have no sin, we deceive ourselves" (1 John i. 8). Tell is 
often exactly synonymous with say to: as, tell (say to) him 
that I was called away. Speak draws its meanings from the 
idea of making audible ; tell, from that of communicating. 
Tell is the only one of these words that may express a 
command. State is often erroneously used for simply say- 
ing : as, he tinted that he could not come : state always 
implies detail, as of reasons, particulars ; to state a case 
is to give it with particularity. 
II. intrans. 1. To speak; declare; assert; 
express an opinion : as, so he says. 
"O Kynge Priam," quod they, "thus siggen we." 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 194. 
At that Cytee entrethe the Ryvere of Nyle in to the See, 
as I to zou have seyd before. Mandeville, Travels, p. 56. 
And thei ansuerde that he had wele seide and wisely. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), i. 84. 
For the other part of the imputation, of having said so 
much, my defence is, that my purpose was to say as well 
as I could. Donne, Letters, xxxii. 
The Goddess said, nor would admit Reply. 
Prior, To Boileau Despreaux. 
2f. To make answer; reply. 
To this argument we shall soon have said ; for what con- 
cerns it us to hear H husband divulging his household 
privacies? Milton. 
Say away. See away. 
say 1 (sa), ii. [< soyl, i\ Cf. sw 2 , the older 
noun from this verb.] 1. What one has to say ; 
a speech; a story; something said; hence, an 
affirmation; a declaration; a statement. 
II condescend to hear you say your say. 
Provided you yourselves in quiet spread 
Before my window. 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, v. 74. 
2. Word; assurance. 
5364 
He took it on the page's saye, 
Hunthill had driven these steeds away. 
Scott, L. of L. M., vi. 7. 
3. A maxim; a saying; a saw. 
That strange palmer'8 boding say. 
Scott, Mamiion, iii. 16. 
4. Turn to say something, make a proposition, 
or reply: as, "It is now my say." [Colloq.] 
say'-'t (sa), . [By apheresis from assay, essay : 
see assay, essay.} 1. Assay; trial by sample ; 
sample ; taste. 
In the first chapter, ... to give you a say or a taste 
what truth shall follow, he feigneth a letter sent from no 
man. Tyndale, Ans. to Sir T. More, etc. (Parker Soc., 
[1850), p. 78. 
Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes. 
Shak., Lear, v. 3. 143. 
To take 
A say of venison, or stale fowl, by your nose, 
Which is a solecism at another's table. 
Matsinger, Unnatural Combat, iii. 1. 
2. A cut made in a dead deer in order to find 
out how fat it is. 
And look to this venison. There 's a breast ! you may 
lay your two fingers into the say there, and not get to the 
bottom of the fat Kinysley, Westward Ho, viii. 
3. Tried quality ; temper; proof. 
Through the dead carcases he made his way, 
Mongst which he found a sword of better .*"//. 
Spenser, F. Q., VI. xi. 47. 
To give a say, to make an attempt. 
This fellow, captain. 
Will come, in time, to be a great distiller, 
And give a my I will not say directly, 
But very fair at the philosopher's stone. 
/'. Jonson, Alchemist, i. 1. 
To give the say, to give assurance of the good quality of 
the wines and dishes : a duty formerly performed at court 
by the royal taster. 
His [Charles I.'s] cup was given on the knee, as were the 
covered dishes ; the say was given, and other accustomed 
ceremonies of the court observed. Herbert. (Jiares.) 
To take the say. (a) To test or taste. 
Philip therefore and lollas, which were woont to take 
the say of the kings cup, having the poison ready in cold 
water, myxed it with wine after they had tasted it. 
J. Brende, tr. of Quintus L'urtius. 
(b) In hunting, to make a cut down the belly of a dead 
deer in order to see how fat it is. 
say 2 t (sa), v. t. [< ME. sayen; by apheresis from 
assay, essay.'] 1. To assay; test. 
No mete for mon schalle sayed be, 
Bot for kynge or prynce or duke so fre ; 
For heiers of paraunce also y-wys 
Mete shalle be sayed; now thenkys on this. 
Babees Bonk (E. E. T. S.), p. 315. 
sh' admires her cunning ; and incontinent 
'Sayes on herselfe her manly ornament. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Handy-Crafts. 
2. To essay; attempt; endeavor; try. 
Once 111 say 
To strike the ear of time in those fresh strains. 
B. Jonson, Poetaster, To the Reader. 
say 3 t (sa), n. [Early mod. E. also saye, saie; < 
AlE. say, saye, saie, < OF. seie, F. soie = Pr. Sp. 
Pg. seda = It. seta = D. zijde = OHG. sida, 
MHG. side , G. seide, silk, < ML. seta, silk, a par- 
ticular use of L. seta, sxta, a bristle, hair: see 
seta, and of. satin and setou, from the same L. 
source.] A kind of silk or satin. 
That fine sail, whereof sflke cloth is made. 
Uottand, tr. of Pliny. (Draper's Diet.) 
His garment nether was of silke nor say. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. xii. 8. 
say 4 t (sa), n. [Early mod. E. also sey, saye, saie ; 
< ME. say, saie, saye, a kind of serge, < OF. 
saie, saye, a long-skirted coat or cassock, = 
Sp. sayo, a wide coat without buttons, a loose 
dress, saya, an upper petticoat, a tunic, = Pg. 
sayo, saio, a loose upper coat, saia, a petticoat, 
= It. go/a, a long coat, < L. nagum, neut., sagus, 
ra.. saga, t., a coarse woolen blanket or mantle, 
< Gr. ad-jof, a coarse cloak, a pack, pack-saddle; 
perhaps connected with aayii, harness, armor. 
aayfia, a pack-saddle, covering, large cloak, < 
adrreiv (y aay), pack, load: see seam"*. The L. 
and Gr. forms are usually said to be of Celtic 
origin ; but the Bret, sue, a coat, is from F.] A 
kind of serge. In the sixteenth century it seems 
to have been a fine thin cloth used for outer 
garments. 
Item, j. tester and j. seler of the same. Item, iij. cur- 
taynes of rede saye. Ponton Letters, I. 482. 
Worsteds, Carela, Saies. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 440. 
They (Benedictine monks] were attyred inblackegownes 
with fine thin vayles of blacke Say over them. 
Coryat, Crudities, 1.68. 
Their trading is in cloth with the Dutch, and baies and 
saies with Spain. Evelyn, Diary, July 8, 1656. 
Nor shall any worsted, bay, or woolen yarn, cloth, says, 
bays, kerseys, serges, frizes, ... or any other drapery 
Sayornis 
stuffs, or woolen manufactures whatsoever, made up or 
mixed with wool, in any of the said counties, be carried 
into any other county. Franklin, Autobiog., II. 183. 
say" (sa), n. [Prob. a var. of sie, ult. AS. sit/an, 
sink: see sie 1 .] A strainer for milk. [Scotch.] 
sayty. An obsolete preterit of seel. Chaucer. 
Say brook platform. See phi {form . 
Sayet (sa). Same as say^, say 3 , stiy*. 
sayer 1 (sa'er), n. [< ME. seyere, seggere, siggere; 
< say 1 + -*>!.] One who says. 
As for that ye desyr that I shuld send yow word that I 
shuld sey in this mater, I pray yow in this and all other 
lyke, ask the seyeres if thei will abyd be ther langage, and 
as for me, sey I prupose me to tahe no mater uppon me 
butt that I woll abyde by. Paiton Letters, I. 348. 
Some men, namely, poets, are natural sayers, sent into 
the world to the end of expression. Emerson, The Poet. 
sayer 2 t (sa'er), >i. [< say* + -erl.] One who 
assays, tests, or tries; an inspector or assayer: 
as, the market Bayer's duty was to prevent un- 
wholesome fdRd from being sold in the market. 
sayette (sa-ef ), n. [< F. sayette, OF. sayete (= 
Sp. sayete, sayito = Pg. saieta It. saietta), 
serge, dim. of saye, serge : see say*.] 1. A light 
stuff made of pure wool, or of wool and suk: 
it is a kind of serge, adapted for linings, furni- 
ture-coverings, arid the like. 2. A woolen yarn 
intermediate in quality between combed yarn 
and carded yarn. A long staple is used, but instead 
of being combed it is carded on a mill of peculiar con- 
struction. It is used in making stockings, carpets, Berlin- 
wool work, etc. Also called half-worsted yarn. See worsted 
yarn, under yarn. Fil de sayette, the peculiar woolen 
thread used for sayette. 
sayid, saiyid (sa'id), n. [Ar. : see seid.') A 
title of honor (literally 'lord') assumed by the 
members of the Koreish, the tribe to which 
Mohammed belonged. 
On the death of the imam, or rather the sayyid, Said of 
Muscat, in that year, his dominions were divided between 
his two sons. Encyc. Brit., XXIV. 769. 
saying (sa'ing), n. [< ME. seyenge ; verbal n. 
of say 1 , r.] 1. That which is said ; an expres- 
sion; a statement; a declaration. 
Here Seyenges I repreve noughte. 
Mandtvitte, Travels, p. 186. 
Moses fled at this saying. Acts vii. 29. 
Philosophy has a tine saying for everything. 
Sterne, Tristram Shandy, v. 8. 
In the eschatological speeches of Jesus reported by the 
synoptical writers there is no doubt that sayings are intro- 
duced which are derived not from Jesus but from the 
Jewish apocalyptic writers. Encyc. Brit., XX. 497, note. 
2. A proverbial expression; a maxim; an 
adage. 
We call it by a common saying to set the carte before 
the horse. Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 218. 
First Goth. What, canst thou say all this, and never 
blush ? 
Aar. Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is. 
Shak., Tit And., v. 1. 122. 
Deed of saylngt. See deed. =Syn. 2. Axiom, Maxim, etc. 
See aphorism. 
saykert, . See sal-er%. 
saylet, . and t. A Middle English form of 
taffi. 
saymant (sa'man), n. [< say% + man.] Same 
as saymaster. 
If your lordship In anything shall make me your sayman, 
I will be hurt before your lordship shall be hurt. 
Bacon, To the Earl of Buckingham. (Trench.) 
saymastert (sa'mas"ter), n. [< say? + mas- 
ter 1 .] One who makes trial or proof; an assay- 
master. 
May we trust the wit 
Without a say-master to authorise it ? 
Are the lines sterling ? 
Shirley, Doubtful Heir, Epil. 
Great say-master of state, who cannot err, 
But doth his caract and just standard keep, 
In all the proved assays, 
And legal ways. B. Jonson, Underwoods, xciv. 
sayme, . and v. Same as seam 3 . 
saynay (sa'na), . A lamprey. 
sayon (sa'on), n. [OF., < saye, serge: see 
say*."] A garment worn by men during the lat- 
ter part of the middle ages, a kind of sleeve- 
less jacket, peculiar to peasants and to soldiers 
of low grade. 
Sayornis (sa-6r'nis), n. [NL. (Bonaparte, 
1854), < Say (Thomas Say, an American natu- 
ralist) + Gr. opvtf, bird.] A genus of Tyran- 
nidie; the pewit flycatchers. The common pewit 
of the Unitea States is 5. fuscus or phoebe. The black 
pewit is S. nigricans; Say's pewit is S. sayus. The black- 
and-white one figured on following page abounds in 
western and especially southwestern parts of the l T nited 
States, in rocky and watery places like those which the 
common phrebe haunts in the east. It has been found 
several thousand feet below the general surface of the 
country, at the bottom of the grand canon of the Colorado. 
Say's pewit is also confined to the west, but is rather a 
