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voice

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English

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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    From Middle English voice, voys, vois, borrowed from Anglo-Norman voiz, voys, voice, Old French vois, voiz (Modern French voix), from Latin vōcem, accusative form of vōx (“voice”).

    Cognate with Sanskrit वाच् (vāc), Ancient Greek ὄψ (óps), Persian آواز (âvâz). Displaced native Middle English steven (“voice”) (from Old English stefn (see steven)), Old English hlēoþor, Old English woþ, and Old English reord. Compare advocate, advowson, avouch, convoke, vocal, vouch, vowel. Doublet of vox.

    Noun

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    voice (plural voices)

    1. Sound uttered by the mouth, especially by human beings in speech or song; sound thus uttered considered as possessing some special quality or character.
      Synonyms: (obsolete) steven, (obsolete or dialectal) reard
      The human voice is the oldest musical instrument in history.
      Stop repeating in that stupid voice what I say.
      There was a slight catch in her voice as she read the letter out loud.
      His low voice allowed him to become a bass in the choir.
      • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 309, column 1:
        Her voice was euer ſoft,
        Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman.
      • 1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 2:
        And joyn thy voice unto the Angel Quire,
      • 2011 April 10, Alistair Magowan, “Aston Villa 1 - 0 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport‎[1]:
        Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner had backed manager Houllier during the week and asked for the fans to get behind their team as they looked to steer themselves away from the relegation zone.
        To that end, the home supporters were in good voice to begin with, but it was Newcastle who started the game in the ascendancy, with Barton putting a diving header over the top from Jose Enrique's cross.
      • 1957, Douglas Stanley, Your Voice‎[2], Pitman Publishing, page 30:
        When a voice with a tremolo is pushed, or forced, the flutter of the tongue may spread to the jaw, which then moves up and down with the flutter of the tremolo; this is known as a "jaw tremolo." It may even spread to the chest, which then becomes involved in this tetanic flutter.
    2. (phonetics) Sound made through vibration of the vocal cords; sonant, or intonated, utterance; tone; — distinguished from mere breath sound as heard in whispering and voiceless consonants.
    3. The tone or sound emitted by an object.