voice

pronunciation

How to pronounce voice in British English: UK [vɔɪs] word uk audio image

How to pronounce voice in American English: US [vɔɪs] word us audio image

Noun:

the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
the sound made by the vibration of vocal folds modified by the resonance of the vocal tract
a sound suggestive of a vocal utterance
expressing in coherent verbal form
a means or agency by which something is expressed or communicated
something suggestive of speech in being a medium of expression
(metonymy) a singer
an advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose
the ability to speak
(linguistics) the grammatical relation (active or passive) of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action that the verb denotes
the melody carried by a particular voice or instrument in polyphonic music
Verb:

give voice to
utter with vibrating vocal chords

Word Origin

voice: voice: [13] Voice comes via Old French vois from Latin vōx ‘voice’, whose other contributions to English include vocal [14], vociferous [17], and vowel. Its ultimate source is the Indo-European base *wek- ‘speak, say’, which also produced Latin vocāre ‘call’, ancestor of English vocabulary, vocation, etc.=> vocal, vocation, vociferous, vowel

voice (n.): late 13c., "sound made by the human mouth," from Old French voiz "voice, speech; word, saying, rumor, report" (Modern French voix), from Latin vocem (nominative vox) "voice, sound, utterance, cry, call, speech, sentence, language, word" (source also of Italian voce, Spanish voz), related to vocare "to call," from PIE root *wekw- "give vocal utterance, speak" (cognates: Sanskrit vakti "speaks, says," vacas- "word;" Avestan vac- "speak, say;" Greek eipon (aorist) "spoke, said," epos "word;" Old Prussian wackis "cry;" German er-wähnen "to mention"). Replaced Old English stefn. Meaning "ability in a singer" is first attested c. 1600. Meaning "expression of feeling, etc." (in reference to groups of people, etc., such as Voice of America) is recorded from late 14c. Meaning "invisible spirit or force that directs or suggests" (especially in the context of insanity, as in hear voices in (one's) head) is from 1911.

voice (v.): mid-15c., "to be commonly said," from voice (n.). From c. 1600 as "to express, give utterance to" (a feeling, opinion, etc.); from 1867 as "utter (a letter-sound) with the vocal cords." Related: Voiced; voicing.