Etimology
From Middle English talken, talkien, from Old English *tealcian (“to talk, chat”), from Proto-West Germanic *talkōn, from Proto-Germanic *talkōną (“to talk, chatter”), frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *talōną (“to count, recount, tell”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol-, *del- (“to aim, calculate, adjust, count”), equivalent to tell + -k. Cognate with Scots talk (“to talk”), Low German taalken (“to talk”). Related also to Danish tale (“to talk, speak”), Swedish tala (“to talk, speak, say, chatter”), Icelandic tala (“to talk”), Norwegian tale (“speech”), Old English talian (“to count, calculate, reckon, account, consider, think, esteem, value; argue; tell, relate; impute, assign”). More at tale. Despite the surface similarity, unrelated to Proto-Indo-European *telkʷ- (“to talk”) (due to Grimm's law), which is the source of loquacious.
verb
talk (third-person singular simple present talks, present participle talking, simple past and past participle talked)
(intransitive) To communicate, usually by means of speech.
(transitive, informal) To discuss; to talk about.
(transitive) To speak (a certain language).
(transitive, informal, chiefly used in progressive tenses) Used to emphasise the importance, size, complexity etc. of the thing mentioned.
(intransitive, slang) To confess, especially implicating others.
(intransitive) To criticize someone for something of which one is guilty oneself.
(intransitive) To gossip; to create scandal.
(informal, chiefly used in progressive tenses) To influence someone to express something, especially a particular stance or viewpoint or in a particular manner.
Examples
Let's sit down and talk.
Although I don't speak Chinese, I managed to talk with the villagers using signs and gestures.
I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat with you.
Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all. […] It was a chance he was offering me, a wonderful, eighteen carat, solid gold chance.
Mr. Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him. He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected.
Let’s go to my office and talk. ― I like to talk with you, Ms. Weaver. Audio
Audio
“ […] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.
They sat down to talk business.
That's enough about work, let's talk holidays!
We talk French sometimes.
Are you interested in the job? They're talking big money.
We're not talking rocket science here: it should be easy.
Suppose he talks?
She can be relied upon not to talk.
They tried to make me talk.
I am not the one to talk.
She is a fine one to talk.
You should talk.
Look who's talking.
People will talk.
Aren't you afraid the neighbours will talk?
That's not like you at all, Jared. The drugs are talking. Snap out of it!
"So, are you going to give up all this good living and easy money and come fly for the Russians?""Hello no. I told you that yesterday.""That was your wallet talking. The shooting has started. Now I appeal to your patriotism, your manhood, your sense of duty."
Related words
synonyms
See Thesaurus:talk
coordinate terms
listen
Etimology
From Middle English talk, talke (“conversation; discourse”), from the verb (see above).
noun
talk (countable and uncountable, plural talks)
A conversation or discussion; usually serious, but informal.
A lecture.
(uncountable) Gossip; rumour.
(preceded by the; often qualified by a following of) A major topic of social discussion.
(preceded by the) A customary conversation by parent(s) or guardian(s) with their (often teenaged) child about a reality of life; in particular:
(uncountable, not preceded by an article) Empty boasting, promises or claims.
(usually in the plural) Meeting to discuss a particular matter.
Examples
We need to have a talk about your homework.
All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. […] Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connection—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place.
There is a talk on Shakespeare tonight.
There's been talk lately about the two of them.
She is the talk of the day.
The musical is the talk of the town.
Have you had the talk with Jay yet?
Later, I made sure to have the talk with my son about being a black boy, […]
The TalkAll the black parents I have ever spoken to have had “the talk” with their sons and daughters. “The talk” is a conversation about how to behave and not to behave with police.
Now, I was a black man in the South, and my folks had had “the talk” with me. No, not the one about the birds and bees. This one is about the black man and the police.
The party leader's speech was all talk.
The leaders of the G8 nations are currently in talks over nuclear weapons.
Related words
synonyms
See also Thesaurus:talk
(meeting): conference, debate, discussion, meeting