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saith

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Archaic third-person singular present form of "say" (says), heavily featured in biblical passages and early modern English poetry.

Detailed Definition
Saith is an archaic third-person singular present tense form of “say.” It appears often in older poetry and scripture, so modern readers may recognize it as old-fashioned even if they know the meaning. Here it helps give the speaker a stylized, elevated voice.
Example
Example in poetry:
“I am the torch, she saith,” uses saith, the archaic third-person singular of say; biblical and early modern poetry often uses saith for elevated cadence; “The fool saith in his heart” echoes scriptural diction; a modern poet may choose saith ironically to give an ordinary claim mock grandeur
Additional Notes
The word “saith” in the quoted line is an archaic verb form that many modern readers would not use in everyday English.; Found in the poem, Modern Beauty by Arthur Symons
Also Known As
says speaks declares
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