opening speech

noun

In adversarial legal systems, a statement made by either party at the beginning of a trial or comparable factfinding proceeding, in which that party lays out their case, generally including the points of fact that they intend to demonstrate and to some degree indicating the rhetorical arguments for why they should prevail.

Similar
opening statementopening argument
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Meanings

nounopening speech (plural opening speeches)

plural opening speeches

  1. lawIn adversarial legal systems, a statement made by either party at the beginning of a trial or comparable factfinding proceeding, in which that party lays out their case, generally including the points of fact that they intend to demonstrate and to some degree indicating the rhetorical arguments for why they should prevail.

    Synonyms: opening statement, opening argument

Synonyms & antonyms

nounIn adversarial legal systems, a statement made by either party at the beginning of a trial or comparable factfinding proceeding, in which that party lays out their case, generally including the points of fact that they intend to demonstrate and to some degree indicating the rhetorical arguments for why they should prevail.

Similar
opening statementopening argument
Also see
opening argumentopening statement

Translations

Finnish avauspuhe
  • avauspuhestatement made at the beginning
Turkish açılış konuşması
  • açılış konuşmasıstatement made at the beginning
Cite this entry
APA

opening speech. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opening%20speech

MLA

“opening speech.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opening%20speech. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “opening speech,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opening%20speech.

Source: opening speech on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.