Utterance

Utterance

Noun · /ˈʌtərəns/ · a spoken word, statement, or sound; the act of speaking something aloud

Definition

An utterance is any word, phrase, sentence, or sound that is spoken or vocalised. It can refer to a single word muttered under someone's breath or a formal declaration delivered to a crowd. In linguistics, utterance has a technical meaning — any unit of speech between two silences. In general usage, it captures the act and result of giving voice to thought.

Origin

Utterance is derived from the verb utter, which came into Middle English from Middle Dutch uteren. The suffix -ance was added to form the abstract noun, following a common French-influenced pattern in English. By the sixteenth century, utterance was well established in English prose, used in legal, religious, and literary contexts to describe both the act of speaking and the thing spoken.