1. someone who expresses in language; someone who talks (especially someone who delivers a public speech or someone especially garrulous); - Example: "the speaker at commencement" - Example: "an utterer of useful maxims" [syn: speaker, talker, utterer, verbalizer, verbaliser]
3. the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly; - Example: "the leader of the majority party is the Speaker of the House of Representatives"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Speaker \Speak"er\, n.
1. One who speaks. Specifically:
(a) One who utters or pronounces a discourse; usually, one
who utters a speech in public; as, the man is a good
speaker, or a bad speaker.
(b) One who is the mouthpiece of others; especially, one
who presides over, or speaks for, a delibrative
assembly, preserving order and regulating the debates;
as, the Speaker of the House of Commons, originally,
the mouthpiece of the House to address the king; the
Speaker of a House of Representatives.
[1913 Webster]
2. A book of selections for declamation. [U. S.]
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
speaker
n 1: someone who expresses in language; someone who talks
(especially someone who delivers a public speech or someone
especially garrulous); "the speaker at commencement"; "an
utterer of useful maxims" [syn: speaker, talker,
utterer, verbalizer, verbaliser]
2: electro-acoustic transducer that converts electrical signals
into sounds loud enough to be heard at a distance [syn:
loudspeaker, speaker, speaker unit, loudspeaker
system, speaker system]
3: the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly; "the leader
of the majority party is the Speaker of the House of
Representatives"