speak of

verb

To bespeak; show; indicate; foretell; suggest; speak to.

“This act speaks of his kindness.”

OriginMiddle English speken of →
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Meanings

verbspeak of (third-person singular simple present speaks of, present participle speaking of, simple past spoke of, past participle spoken of)

present singular third person speaks of · participle present speaking of · past spoke of · participle past spoken of

  1. phrasaltransitiveverbTo bespeak; show; indicate; foretell; suggest; speak to.

    This act speaks of his kindness.

    1 more example

    The place was solitary and deserted […] only the line of mouldering towers and battlements on the hill above spoke of the busy life that had long passed away.

    1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 7

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
indicate

Origin

  1. Middle Englishofspeken“to speak of, speak about”
  2. Middle Englishspeken of“to speak of, speak about”
  3. Englishspeak of

From Middle English speken of (“to speak of, speak about”) and Middle English ofspeken (“to speak of, speak about”).

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: speak of on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.