speaker

Meaning

1. One who speaks.
2. Loudspeaker.
3. Speakerphone.
4. The chair or presiding officer of certain legislative bodies, such as the U.K. House of Commons or the U.S. House of Representatives.
5. One who makes a speech to an audience.
6. A book containing passages of text for use in speeches.
7. The producer of a given utterance, whether speech or text.
8. The producer of a given utterance, whether speech or text.
9. A key on a woodwind instrument of the clarinet family (cf octave key on other instruments) which induces the instrument to overblow.
10. A wooden pole or spike used by hedgers to carry loads on their shoulders. Possibly Dorset dialect; alternatively spyeker

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈspikɚ/

Etymology

From Middle English speker, spekere, an alteration (with change of suffix) of Old English speca, spreca (“speaker”), from Proto-Germanic *sprekô (“speaker”), equivalent to speak + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Spreeker (“speaker”), West Frisian sprekker (“speaker”), Dutch spreker (“speaker”), German Low German Spreker (“speaker”), German Sprecher (“speaker”).