speak

/spiːk/

//spiːk// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"speak" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“speak” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,004 in English word frequency and used as a verb.

#1,004
frequency rank, English
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

speak vs spec
60% similar
speak vs sped
60% similar
speak vs spew
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for speak
PropertyValue
Headwordspeak
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/spiːk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,004
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “speak” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). speak lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for speak is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /spiːk/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,004 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for speak, with forms such as "pseak", "sepak", and "spaek". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "spec", "sped", "spew", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English speke, speken (“to speak”), from Old English specan (“to speak”). This is usually taken to be an irregular alteration of earlier sprecan, spreocan (“to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan, from Proto-Germanic *sprekaną (“to speak,… The correct English form is speak, spelled S-P-E-A-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.
  2. 2
    To have a conversation.
  3. 3
    To communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions.
  4. 4
    To deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech.
  5. 5
    To be able to communicate in a language.
  6. 6
    To be able to communicate in a language.
  7. 7
    To utter.
  8. 8
    To communicate (some fact or feeling); to bespeak, to indicate.
  9. 9
    To understand (as though it were a language).
  10. 10
    To produce a sound; to sound.
  11. 11
    Of a bird, to be able to vocally reproduce words or phrases from a human language.
  12. 12
    To address; to accost; to speak to.

Etymology

From Middle English speke, speken (“to speak”), from Old English specan (“to speak”). This is usually taken to be an irregular alteration of earlier sprecan, spreocan (“to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan, from Proto-Germanic *sprekaną (“to speak, make a sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *spreg- (“to make a sound, utter, speak”). Finding this proposed loss of r from the stable cluster spr unparalleled, Hill instead sets up a different root, Proto-West Germanic *spekan (“to negotiate”) from Proto-Indo-European *bʰégʾ-e- (“to distribute”) with *s-mobile, which collapsed in meaning with *sprekan ("to speak" < "to crackle, prattle") and so came to be seen as a free variant thereof. Cognates Cognate with Scots speak, speik (“to speak”), Saterland Frisian spreke (“to speak”), West Frisian sprekke (“to speak”), Central Franconian sjprèche (“to speak”), Dutch and Low German spreken (“to speak”), German sprechen (“to speak”), Luxembourgish spriechen (“to speak”), and also with Albanian shpreh (“to express, manifest, show”) through Indo-European.

Synonyms

articulatetalkverbalizebabbleblabchatchatterconversediscussjabbermootopen one's mouthsayspeakyakyapyammer

Antonyms

be silent

This word in other languages

hablar(Español)parler(Français)sprechen(Deutsch)falar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: pseak,sepak,spaek,speakk,speka,sppeak,sspeak

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of speak - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

pseak2sepak2spaek2speakk1speka2sppeak1sspeak1
Edit distance from "speak"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "speak"?
"speak" is spelled S-P-E-A-K. The IPA pronunciation is /spiːk/.
What does "speak" mean?
As a verb, "speak" means: To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.
What words are commonly confused with "speak"?
"speak" is commonly confused with "spec", "sped", "spew". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "speak"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "speak" is /spiːk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "speak"?
From Middle English speke, speken (“to speak”), from Old English specan (“to speak”). This is usually taken to be an irregular alteration of earlier sprecan, spreocan (“to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan, from Proto-Germanic *sprekaną (... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “speak”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-P-E-A-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /spiːk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “spec” - see the side-by-side comparison. speak vs spec
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list