Say (?), obs. imp. of See.
Saw.
Chaucer.
© Webster 1913.
Say (?), n. [Aphetic form of assay.]
1.
Trial by sample; assay; sample; specimen; smack.
[Obs.]
if those principal works of God . . . be but certain tastes and saus, as if were, of that final benefit.
Hooker.
Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes.
Shak.
2.
Tried quality; temper; proof.
[Obs.]
he found a sword of better say.
Spenser.
3.
Essay; trial; attempt.
[Obs.]
To give a say at, to attempt.
B. Jonson.
© Webster 1913.
Say, v. t.
To try; to assay.
[Obs.]
B. Jonson.
© Webster 1913.
Say, n. [OE. saie, F. saie, fr. L. saga, equiv. to sagum, sagus, a coarse woolen mantle; cf. Gr. . See Sagum.]
1.
A kind of silk or satin.
[Obs.]
Thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord!
Shak.
2.
A delicate kind of serge, or woolen cloth.
[Obs.]
His garment neither was of silk nor say.
Spenser.
© Webster 1913.
Say, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Said (?), contracted from sayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Saying.] [OE. seggen, seyen, siggen, sayen, sayn, AS. secgan; akin to OS. seggian, D. zeggen, LG. seggen, OHG. sagn, G. sagen, Icel. segja, Sw. saga, Dan. sige, Lith. sakyti; cf. OL. insece teil, relate, Gr. (for ), . Cf. Saga, Saw a saying.]
1.
To utter or express in words; to tell; to speak; to declare; as, he said many wise things.
Arise, and say how thou camest here.
Shak.
2.
To repeat; to rehearse; to recite; to pronounce; as, to say a lesson.
Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated
In what thou hadst to say?
Shak.
After which shall be said or sung the following hymn.
Bk. of Com. Prayer.
3.
To announce as a decision or opinion; to state positively; to assert; hence, to form an opinion upon; to be sure about; to be determined in mind as to.
But what it is, hard is to say.
Milton.
4.
To mention or suggest as an estimate, hypothesis, or approximation; hence, to suppose; -- in the imperative, followed sometimes by the subjunctive; as, he had, say fifty thousand dollars; the fox had run, say ten miles.
Say, for nonpayment that the debt should double,
Is twenty hundred kisses such a trouble?
Shak.
It is said, ∨ They say, it is commonly reported; it is rumored; people assert or maintain. -- That is to say, that is; in other words; otherwise.
© Webster 1913.
Say, v. i.
To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge.
Shak.
To this argument we shall soon have said; for what concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household privacies?
Milton.
© Webster 1913.
Say, n. [From Say, v. t.; cf. Saw a saying.]
A speech; something said; an expression of opinion; a current story; a maxim or proverb.
[Archaic or Colloq.]
He no sooner said out his say, but up rises a cunning snap.
L'Estrange.
That strange palmer's boding say,
That fell so ominous and drear
Full on the object of his fear.
Sir W. Scott.
© Webster 1913.