English Online Dictionary. What means talk? What does talk mean?
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, MLE) enPR: tôk IPA(key): /tɔːk/
- (US) IPA(key): /tɔk/
- (cot–caught merger, Northern Cities Vowel Shift) enPR: tŏk IPA(key): /tɑk/, [tɑk], [täk], [tak]
- (AAVE) IPA(key): /tɔʊ̯k/
- (General Australian, New Zealand, MLE) IPA(key): /toːk/
- Rhymes: -ɔːk
- Homophones: torc, torq, torque (non-rhotic accents only), tock (in accents with the cot-caught merger)
Etymology 1
From Middle English talken, talkien, from Old English *tealcian (“to talk, chat”), from Proto-West Germanic *talkōn, from Proto-Germanic *talkōną (“to talk, chatter”), frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *talōną (“to count, recount, tell”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol-, *del- (“to aim, calculate, adjust, count”), equivalent to tell + -k. Cognate with Scots talk (“to talk”), Low German taalken (“to talk”). Related also to Danish tale (“to talk, speak”), Swedish tala (“to talk, speak, say, chatter”), Icelandic tala (“to talk”), Norwegian tale (“speech”), Old English talian (“to count, calculate, reckon, account, consider, think, esteem, value; argue; tell, relate; impute, assign”). More at tale. Despite the surface similarity, unrelated to Proto-Indo-European *telkʷ- (“to talk”), which is the source of loquacious.
Alternative forms
- taulke (obsolete)
Verb
talk (third-person singular simple present talks, present participle talking, simple past and past participle talked)
- (intransitive) To communicate, usually by means of speech.
- 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
- Let’s go to my office and talk. ― I like to talk with you, Ms. Weaver.
- Let’s go to my office and talk. ― I like to talk with you, Ms. Weaver.
- (transitive, informal) To discuss; to talk about.
- (transitive) To speak (a certain language).
- (transitive, informal, chiefly used in progressive tenses) Used to emphasise the importance, size, complexity etc. of the thing mentioned.
- (intransitive, slang) To confess, especially implicating others.
- (intransitive) To criticize someone for something of which one is guilty oneself.
- (intransitive) To gossip; to create scandal.
- (informal, chiefly used in progressive tenses) To influence someone to express something, especially a particular stance or viewpoint or in a particular manner.
Conjugation
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:talk
Coordinate terms
- listen
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English talk, talke (“conversation; discourse”), from the verb (see above).
Noun
talk (countable and uncountable, plural talks)
- A conversation or discussion; usually serious, but informal.
- A lecture.
- (uncountable) Gossip; rumour.
- (preceded by the; often qualified by a following of) A major topic of social discussion.
- (preceded by the) A customary conversation by parent(s) or guardian(s) with their (often teenaged) child about a reality of life; in particular:
- A customary conversation in which parent(s) explain sexual intercourse to their child.
- Have you had the talk with Jay yet?
- (US) A customary conversation in which the parent(s) of a black child explain the racism and violence they may face, especially when interacting with police, and strategies to manage it.
- A customary conversation in which parent(s) explain sexual intercourse to their child.
- (uncountable, not preceded by an article) Empty boasting, promises or claims.
- (usually in the plural) Meeting to discuss a particular matter.
- The leaders of the G8 nations are currently in talks over nuclear weapons.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:talk
- (meeting): conference, debate, discussion, meeting
Derived terms
Translations
Related terms
Pages starting with “talk”.
Chinese
Etymology
From English talk.
Pronunciation
Noun
talk
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) talk; lecture; seminar
- 聽talk/听talk [Cantonese] ― teng1 tok1 [Jyutping] ― to attend a talk
Verb
talk
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) to talk (especially a lot)
- talk得 [Cantonese] ― tok1 dak1 [Jyutping] ― talkative
References
- English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese
Danish
Etymology
Via French talc or German Talk, from Persian طلق (talq).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /talk/, [tˢalˀɡ̊]
Noun
talk c (singular definite talken, not used in plural form)
- talc (a soft, fine-grained mineral used in talcum powder)
Related terms
- talkum
Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Noun
talk m (uncountable)
- talc (soft, fine-grained mineral used in talcum powder)
Descendants
- → Indonesian: talk
Etymology 2
From Middle Dutch talch, from Old Dutch *talg, from Proto-Germanic *talgaz. More at English tallow.
Noun
talk c (uncountable)
- Alternative form of talg (“tallow”)
Descendants
- Negerhollands: talk
Anagrams
- kalt
Hawaiian Creole
Etymology
From English talk.
Verb
talk
- to talk, speak
Indonesian
Etymology
From Dutch talk, from Middle French talc, from Arabic طَلْق (ṭalq), from Persian تلک (talk).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (standard) [ˈtalk], [ˈtalə̆k]
- Hyphenation: talk
Noun
talk (first-person possessive talkku, second-person possessive talkmu, third-person possessive talknya)
- talc
Alternative forms
- talêk
Further reading
- “talk” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
Polish
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin talcum, from Arabic طَلْق (ṭalq), from Persian تلک (talk).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /talk/
- Rhymes: -alk
- Syllabification: talk
Noun
talk m inan
- (mineralogy) talc (soft mineral)
- talc, talcum powder
Declension
Derived terms
Further reading
- talk in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- talk in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Swedish
Noun
talk c
- talc (a soft, fine-grained mineral used in talcum powder)