talk

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See also: Talk

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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”) (due to Grimm's law), which is the source of loquacious.

Alternative forms[edit]

Verb[edit]

talk (third-person singular simple present talks, present participle talking, simple past and past participle talked)

  1. (intransitive) To communicate, usually by means of speech.
    Let's sit down and talk.
    Although I don't speak Chinese, I managed to talk with the villagers using signs and gestures.
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 166:
      I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat with you.
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 99:
      Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all. […] It was a chance he was offering me, a wonderful, eighteen carat, solid gold chance.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      Mr. Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him. He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected.
    • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
      Let’s go to my office and talk. ― I like to talk with you, Ms. Weaver.
      Audio (US)(file)
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 203:
      “ […]  They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.
  2. (transitive, informal) To discuss; to talk about.
    They sat down to talk business.
    That's enough about work, let's talk holidays!
  3. (transitive) To speak (a certain language).
    We talk French sometimes.
  4. (transitive, informal, chiefly used in progressive tenses) Used to emphasise the importance, size, complexity etc. of the thing mentioned.
    Are you interested in the job? They're talking big money.
    We're not talking rocket science here: it should be easy.
  5. (intransitive, slang) To confess, especially implicating others.
    Suppose he talks?
    She can be relied upon not to talk.
    They tried to make me talk.
  6. (intransitive) To criticize someone for something of which one is guilty oneself.
    I am not the one to talk.
    She is a fine one to talk.
    You should talk.
    Look who's talking.
  7. (intransitive) To gossip; to create scandal.
    People will talk.
    Aren't you afraid the neighbours will talk?
  8. (informal, chiefly used in progressive tenses) To influence someone to express something, especially a particular stance or viewpoint or in a particular manner.
    That's not like you at all, Jared. The drugs are talking. Snap out of it!
    • 2013, Stephen Coonts, Fortunes of War:
      "So, are you going to give up all this good living and easy money and come fly for the Russians?"
      "Hello no. I told you that yesterday."
      "That was your wallet talking. The shooting has started. Now I appeal to your patriotism, your manhood, your sense of duty."
Conjugation[edit]
Conjugation of talk
infinitive (to) talk
present tense past tense
1st-person singular talk talked
2nd-person singular talk, talkest† talked, talkedst†
3rd-person singular talks, talketh† talked
plural talk
subjunctive talk talked
imperative talk —
participles talking talked

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms[edit]
Coordinate terms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
(transitive) to discuss — see discuss

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English talk, talke (“conversation; discourse”), from the verb (see above).

Noun[edit]

talk (countable and uncountable, plural talks)

  1. A conversation or discussion; usually serious, but informal.
    We need to have a talk about your homework.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 198–199:
      All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. […] Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connection—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place.
  2. A lecture.
    There is a talk on Shakespeare tonight.
  3. (uncountable) Gossip; rumour.
    There's been talk lately about the two of them.
  4. (preceded by the; often qualified by a following of) A major topic of social discussion.
    She is the talk of the day.
    The musical is the talk of the town.
  6. (preceded by the) A customary conversation by parent(s) or guardian(s) with their (often teenaged) child about a reality of life; in particular:
    1. A customary conversation in which parent(s) explain sexual intercourse to their child.
      Have you had the talk with Jay yet?
    2. (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.
      • 2012, Crystal McCrary, Inspiration: Profiles of Black Women Changing Our World, →ISBN:
        Later, I made sure to have the talk with my son about being a black boy, […]
      • 2016, Jim Wallis, America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge, →ISBN:
        The Talk
        All the black parents I have ever spoken to have had “the talk” with their sons and daughters. “The talk” is a conversation about how to behave and not to behave with police.
      • 2016, Stuart Scott, Larry Platt, Every Day I Fight, →ISBN, page 36:
        Now, I was a black man in the South, and my folks had had “the talk” with me. No, not the one about the birds and bees. This one is about the black man and the police.
  7. (uncountable, not preceded by an article) Empty boasting, promises or claims.
    The party leader's speech was all talk.
  8. (usually in the plural) Meeting to discuss a particular matter.
    The leaders of the G8 nations are currently in talks over nuclear weapons.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from talk (noun)
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Related terms[edit]

Pages starting with “talk”.

Chinese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English talk.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

talk

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) talk; lecture; seminar
    聽talk／听talk [Cantonese]  ―  teng1 tok1 [Jyutping]  ―  to attend a talk

Verb[edit]

talk

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to talk (especially a lot)
    talk得 [Cantonese]  ―  tok1 dak1 [Jyutping]  ―  talkative

References[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Via French talc or German Talk, from Persian طلق (talq).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /talk/, [tˢalˀɡ̊]

Noun[edit]

talk c (singular definite talken, not used in plural form)

  1. talc (a soft, fine-grained mineral used in talcum powder)

Related terms[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Noun[edit]

talk m (uncountable)

  1. talc (soft, fine-grained mineral used in talcum powder)
Descendants[edit]
  • → Indonesian: talk

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle Dutch talch, from Old Dutch *talg, from Proto-Germanic *talgaz. More at English tallow.

Noun[edit]

talk c (uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of talg (“tallow”)
Descendants[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Hawaiian Creole[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English talk.

Verb[edit]

talk

  1. to talk, speak
    You talk Pidgin?
    Do you speak Pidgin?

Indonesian[edit]

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia id

Etymology[edit]

From Dutch talk, from Middle French talc, from Arabic طَلْق (ṭalq), from Persian تلک (talk).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): (standard) [ˈtalk], [ˈtalə̆k]
  • Hyphenation: talk

Noun[edit]

talk (first-person possessive talkku, second-person possessive talkmu, third-person possessive talknya)

  1. talc

Alternative forms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Polish[edit]

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology[edit]

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin talcum.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

talk m inan

  1. (mineralogy) talc (soft mineral)
  2. talc, talcum powder

Declension[edit]

Declension of talk
singular
nominative talk
genitive talku
dative talkowi
accusative talk
instrumental talkiem
locative talku
vocative talku

Derived terms[edit]

adjective
verb

Further reading[edit]

  • talk in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • talk in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Swedish[edit]

Noun[edit]

talk c

  1. talc (a soft, fine-grained mineral used in talcum powder)

Declension[edit]

Declension of talk 
Uncountable
Indefinite Definite
Nominative talk talken — —
Genitive talks talkens — —
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