1. [n]  the chance to speak; "let him have his say"
2. [v]  communicate or express nonverbally; "What does this painting say?"; "Did his face say anything about how he felt?"
3. [v]  give instructions to or direct somebody to do something; "I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do the shopping"; "The mother told the child to get dressed"
4. [v]  express a supposition; "Let us say that he did not tell the truth"; "Let's say you had a lot of money--what would you do?"
5. [v]  indicate; "The clock says noon"
6. [v]  recite or repeat a fixed text; "Say grace"; "She said her `Hail Mary'"
7. [v]  speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way; "She pronounces French words in a funny way"; "I cannot say `zip wire'"; "Can the child sound out this complicated word?"
8. [v]  utter aloud; "She said 'Hello' to everyone in the office"
9. [v]  express in words; "He said that he wanted to marry her"; "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion"; "state your name"
10. [v]  state as one's opinion or judgement; declare; "I say let's forget this whole business"
11. [v]  report or maintain; "He alleged that he was the victim of a crime"; "He said it was too late to intervene in the war"; "The registrar says that I owe the school money"
12. [v]  have or contain a certain wording or form; "The passage reads as follows"; "What does the law say?"

1. \Say\ (s[=a]), obs. imp. of {See}.
   Saw. --Chaucer.
   

2. \Say\ (s[=a]), n. [Aphetic form of assay.]
   1. Trial by sample; assay; sample; specimen; smack. [Obs.]
            If those principal works of God . . . be but certain
            tastes and says, as it were, of that final benefit.
                                                  --Hooker.
            Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes. --Shak.
   2. Tried quality; temper; proof. [Obs.]
            He found a sword of better say.       --Spenser.
   3. Essay; trial; attempt. [Obs.]
   {To give a say at}, to attempt. --B. Jonson.
   

3. \Say\, v. t.
   To try; to assay. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
   

4. \Say\, n. [OE. saie, F. saie, fr. L. saga, equiv. to sagum,
   sagus, a coarse woolen mantle; cf. Gr. sa`gos. See {Sagum}.]
   1. A kind of silk or satin. [Obs.]
            Thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord!
                                                  --Shak.
   2. A delicate kind of serge, or woolen cloth. [Obs.]
            His garment neither was of silk nor say. --Spenser.
   

5. \Say\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Said} (s[e^]d), contracted from
   sayed; p. pr. & vb. n. {Saying}.] [OE. seggen, seyen, siggen,
   sayen, sayn, AS. secgan; akin to OS. seggian, D. zeggen, LG.
   seggen, OHG. sag[=e]n, G. sagen, Icel. segja, Sw. s["a]ga,
   Dan. sige, Lith. sakyti; cf. OL. insece tell, relate, Gr.
   'e`nnepe (for 'en-sepe), 'e`spete. Cf. {Saga}, {Saw} a
   saying.]
   1. To utter or express in words; to tell; to speak; to
      declare; as, he said many wise things.
            Arise, and say how thou camest here.  --Shak.
   2. To repeat; to rehearse; to recite; to pronounce; as, to
      say a lesson.
            Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated In what
            thou hadst to say?                    --Shak.
            After which shall be said or sung the following
            hymn.                                 --Bk. of Com.
                                                  Prayer.
   3. To announce as a decision or opinion; to state positively;
      to assert; hence, to form an opinion upon; to be sure
      about; to be determined in mind as to.
            But what it is, hard is to say.       --Milton.
   4. To mention or suggest as an estimate, hypothesis, or
      approximation; hence, to suppose; -- in the imperative,
      followed sometimes by the subjunctive; as, he had, say
      fifty thousand dollars; the fox had run, say ten miles.
            Say, for nonpayment that the debt should double, Is
            twenty hundred kisses such a trouble? --Shak.
   {It is said}, or {They say}, it is commonly reported; it is
      rumored; people assert or maintain.
   {That is to say}, that is; in other words; otherwise.
   

6. \Say\, v. i.
   To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
         You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest
         judge.                                   --Shak.
         To this argument we shall soon have said; for what
         concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household
         privacies?                               --Milton.
   

7. \Say\, n. [From {Say}, v. t.; cf. {Saw} a saying.]
   A speech; something said; an expression of opinion; a current
   story; a maxim or proverb. [Archaic or Colloq.]
         He no sooner said out his say, but up rises a cunning
         snap.                                    --L'Estrange.
         That strange palmer's boding say, That fell so ominous
         and drear Full on the object of his fear. --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
   

A human may "say" things to a computer by typing them on a terminal. "To list a directory verbosely, say "ls -l"." Tends to imply a newline-terminated command (a "sentence").

A computer may "say" things to you, even if it doesn't have a speech synthesiser, by displaying them on a terminal in response to your commands. This usage often confuses mundanes.

[Jargon File]