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VOICE. 281 VOICE.
a. With ikCj or with limiting terms as man's,
a 1300 Citrsor M. 11420 pis ilk stern. .said to ^atm wit
mans woice, pat Jjai sulci wend to Juen land, c 1350 lyiU.
Paleme 40 pe son of Jie cry com to J>e cowherde euene, pat
he wist witerly it was t>e voys of a childe. 1387 Trf-visa
Higden (Rolls) I. 83 pe voys t»at ^^y make^ is liker to an
houndes berkynge ^an to a mani^ voys. 13^ — Barth. De
F.R. V. xxiiL (Bodl. MS.), To schape J^e voice aJer is ifonge
in l>e leues of be lungen. 1580 J. Hay Demandes § 17 in
Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 39 The irew intelligence, .and nocht
the outward sounding of the woce. 1587 Golding De
Mornayv. 59 There is.. a dubble Speech ; the one in the
mynd, . .the other the sounding image thereof, . . vttered by
our mouth and . . termed the Speech of the Voyce, 1603 Hol-
LAND Piuiarch*s Mar. 838 Plato defineth the Voice to be a
spirit. 1606 Shaks. Tr. ^ Cr. in. ii. 95 They that haue the
voyce of Lyons, and the act of Hares : are they not Monsters
? 1655 Vaughan Siiex Sct'nt, Holy Script, ii, Thou
(the Bible) art the great EUxir rare and choice ; The Word in
Characters, God in the Voice. 1710 M. Henry Disputes
Rcviewed^Vs. 1853 II. 464/1 When the temper is not kept
within due bounds, commonlythe voiceisnot. 1780 W.Shaw
{title) A Galic and English Dictionary. Containing all the
Words in the Scotch and Irish Dialects of the Celtic, that
could be collected from the Voice, and Old Books and MSS.
1831 YouATT //(»r« viiL 152 The voiceofanimalsis produced
by thepassageof air through tbisaperture. xZ^ Penny CycL
XXIV. 154/1 Speaking- pi pes, or lubes to convey the voice
from one place to another. 1889 Ruskin /'rar/^nValll. 162
The Voice is the eternal musical instrument of heaven and
earth, from angels down to birds.
b. Without article.
Occas. put for* musical voice', 'power of singing': cf.
quots. 1667 and 1697.
a 1300 Cursor M, 17840 And als sun J^ai spak wit wotce.
c 1380 WvcLiF Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 75 Among alle fiingis
vols is a freel J^ing. c 1400 Pilgr. SowU (Caxton 1483) iv.
XX. 67 Sec howe my sone . . bymeneth hym in herte chere and
voys. X444 Aberdeen Rep'. (1844) I. 12 He sal vphald the
ladymesse with uoce on Twisd3i,Thurisdai, and Fridaiilke
owkeforayher. (;x45otr. De /mitatiane iiu xlviiujjg So
I teche wil>oule voice of wordes, wi^ute confusion of
opinyons. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems xlviii. idaThaneall the
birdis song with voce on hicht. 1588 A. King ir. Canisius*
Catech. 124 Seing wraith without ony voce of worde is appointed
to iudgement, wraith in voce i.s appointed toacouncel
quhairin sentence ispronunced. 1594 V^\d Comtliani. 1. 132
These^ are .. melancholie showes, That .. countcrfet the
dead in voyce and figure. 1608 Topsell Serpents 134 A
vocal iastice.which speaketh in action though not in voyce.
1666-7 pEpys Diary 12 Feb., I confess I was mightily
pleased with the musique. He pretends not to voice j
though it be good, but not excellent. 1697 Dbyoen Vir^.
Georg, IV. 70 Hollow Rocks that render back the Sound,
And doubled Images of Voice rebound. 1697 — ^ir^. Past.
v loYour merit and your years command the choice: Aniyn-
tas only rivals you in voice. i7ai Bailev, Aphony, a want
of voice. 1728 Chambers O^/. s. v., 1 hat Canal,., which at
first pasi'd for the principal Organ of Voice. T 1780 Cowper
Cricket ij Though in voice and shape they be Form'd as if
akin to thee. i8j8 Whately Rket.'xn Encyci. Metrop, I.
205/1 To observe all the modulations. &c. of voice, which take
place in such a delivery. 1873 Huxley Physiol, vii. 184
Thus, voice may exist^ without speech, and . . speech may
exist without voice, as In whispering. 1884 F. M. Crawford
Rom. Singer I. 3 He had so much voice that he did not
know what to do with it.
trans/. and>^. 1815 Scott Waterloo i. We yet may hear
the hour Peal'd over orchard and canal, With voice prolong'd
and measured fall. 1817 — Harold iti. vi. From
realms afar Comes voice of battle and of war.
O. With adjs, denoting the quality or tone.
Chiefly with or in . . voice. Cf. 6 c
13.. A'. /i//j. 385o(Laud MS.), Andhcm beseidewi}>voice
clere Ichbier, must be considered as the voyce of
them alt. 1653 W. Ramesey Astrol. Restored To Rdr. 3
Let no man .be so weak as. .(to] conclude ought against it
either by Tradition or the common Voice of the World.
1711 Swift Cond. Allies 78 It is the Folly of too many, to
mistake the Eccho of a London Coffee-house for the Voice of
the Kingdom. 1780 Afirror No. 77 Before the trial of an
atrocious criminal, the unanimous voice of the Public is,
that he should be ted out to punishment. 1837 Carlvle P>.
Rev. I. IV. i. It is the voice of all France, the Sound that
rises. 1849 Macaulav Hist. Eng. ii. I. 167 Recalled by
the voice of both the contending factions, he was the very
man to arbitrate between them. 1877 Tennyson Haroldw.
ii, I will be king of England by the laws, The choice, and
voice of England.
b. Without of. Now usually with defining adj.,
zs, getural^ popular, ptiblic, prefixed {b).
(a) 1338 R. Brunnb Ckron. (1810) 17 Hakon, Hemebald
Sonne, o7 best he bare l>e voice. In stede of Kynges banere
he did him here J>e croice. 1599 Shaks. Hen. K, 11. ii. 113
Whatsocuer cunning fiend it was That wrought vpon thee
so preposterously Hath got the voyce in hell for excellence.
1603 B. JoNsoN Sejanus iv. v, I feare, you wrong him.
He has the voyce to be an honest Romane. i6a8 Earle
Microcflsm.ikxh.') 7olHe]cries Chaucer for his Money aboue
all our English Poets, because the voice ha's gone so, 1703
RowE Ulyss. w. i. So shall the Voice in Ithaca be for you.
1787 Washington Lett. Writ. 1S9: XL 181 note. Thus
stands the matter at present in this State. I think nevertheless
the voice is for it.
Kb) 1588 Shaks. Tit. A. v. iii. 140 Lucius our Emperour:
for well I know, The common voyce do cry it shall be so,
1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist. 11. ii. 150 Much I endure,
when writing I would bribe The public Voice. 1749
Fielding Tom Jones iii. vii, The public voice, .seldom
reaches to a brother or a husband, though it rings in the ears
of all the neighbourhood. 1773 Mrs. Chapone Improv.
Mind {ijy\) II. 212, I believe the general voice will direct
you to Hume. x83a Tennyson CEnone 82 To me, by common
voice Elected umpire, Here comes to-day. 1849
Macaulav Hist. Eng. vi. II. 123 While the king was thus
trying to terrify the lords of articles into submission, the
popular voice encouraged them to persist.
•f* 4, That which is generally or commonly said ;
general or common talk; rumour or report. Obs.
Frcq. in the i6th c, often with common.
c 1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) vii. 27 pe comoun voice es J»arc
l^at >ai er t>e bernes of Joseph. ? 1463 Paston Lett. II. 107
It is my part to enfourme youre maistirshyp as the comoun
voyse is, . . for it is half a deth to me to here the generall
voyse of the pepyll, whiche dayli encreassyth. 1513 Ld.
Kkrners E'roiss. l.ccclxxxiv. 651 In this meane tyme voyce
and bruyte ranne through London, howe these vnhappy
people were lykely to sle the kynge [etc.]. a 1568 Satir.
Poems Re/orm. xlvii. 12 Grit foulis ge were with fallowis to
defenie hir, Havand na causs hot commoun voce and sklander.
1577 P\ de L 'isle's Legendarie K viij, The voyce went
thesametime..that there was a letter, .sent into Normandy,
conteining these wordes. 1607 in Birch Crt. ^ Times
Jos. I (1848) 1. 70 All Sunday it was current that the parliament
did hold, but now the voice runs otherwise, a 1639
WoTTON Let. in Reliq. (1651) 429 Doctour Belcanquel..
shall {as the voice goeth) be removed to the Deanrie of
Durham. 1652 Howell drag's Rev. Naples u. 100 The
next day the voice went up and down, that. .they intended
to introduce Forreign force.
t b. A piece of common or general talk ; a
report or rumour. Obs.
1463 in Sc. Acts, Jas. Ill (1874) XII. 30/1 pe kingis
declaratioun .. quhilk .. ^at bald sufficiant to purge t>e
said Alexander, .of ^e said voice and Rumor. 1538 in Ellis
Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 98 Ther ys a voyce that yt shulde be
the Duchysof Myllayn. a 1540 Barnes W'^.t. (1573)330/1
There runneth a great voyce of mee, that I haue maried a
wife. 1619 in Birch Crt. ^ Times Jas. I (1848) II. 156
There is a voice, that my Lord North sets forth four ships.
1639 WoTTON Lett. (1907) H. 410 We have a new strange
voice flying here, that the Prince Palatine is towards a
marriage. 165a Howell Girajffis Rev. Naples ii. 100 The
sound of this voice went up to the Castle.
t c. Fame or renown p/^ something. Obs.
CX470 Henry Wallace viii. 1138 Sum off thaim said, the
qucyn luffyt Wallace, For the gret woice off his hie nobilnes.
1600 HoLUiND Liiy xxviii. xlvi. 707 His power increased
dayly J for that the Frenchmen flocked unto him from all
parts, upon the noyse and voyce of his name.
5. Gram. The form of a verb by which the relation
of the subject to the action implied is indicated
one or other of the modes of inflecting or varying
a verb according to the distinctions of active,
passive, or middle.
In quot. 1591 used instead of ' person '.
138a WvcLiF Prol. 57 A participle of a present tens, either
preterit, of actif vols, eithir passif. 1591 Percival Span.
Diet. C 2 By changing e of the future of the Indicatiue into
m, you make the third voice of the preterim perfect tense of
the Subiunctiue. x6ia Brinslev Pos. Parts (1615) 20b,
Giue the terminations of the first Persons of the Actiue
voice alone, a 1653 Gouge Comm. Heb. vi. i The word
^tptontBa, translated * Let us go on ', is of the passive voice.
1678 (see Passive a. 3J. 1706 J. Stevens Sp. Diet,, Sp.
Gram. 15 Participle of the Present Tense and Active Voice,
1765- (see Active a, 5]. X77a A. Aoam Gram. (1793) 20
Voice expresses the different circumstances in which we
consider an object, whether as acting, or being acted upon.
1841 Latham Eng. La>ig. 12 The characteristic. .of. .the
Scandinavian languages is the possession of a Passive Form,
or a Passive Voice, ending in st. 1858 C. P. Mason Eng.
Grant. % 180 By means either of a verb in the active voice,
or of a verb in the passive voice. 1871 [see Middled. 4 a].
II. 6. In limited sense : The sounds naturally
made by a single person or animal in speech or
other form of vocal utterance ; these sounds re-
garded as characteristic of the person and as distinguishing
him from another or others ; also frcq.,
the individual organic means or capacity of producing
such sounds,
a. In usages where this sound is taken to represent
the person or being who utters it, or is
regarded apart from the utterer. Freq. with verbs
of saying, introducing the words uttered.
c x»>o St. Francis 54 in S, Eng. Leg. I. 55 po spac a voiz
J>are-inne (the cross] wel MildeRche and softe. And seide,
* Fraunceys, go ^e forth ' [etc.]. 1*97 R. Glouc. (Roils) 5750 A
voys sede as hym ^^o^te Jies wordes. .as he vel adoun. c 1330
R. Bbunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 16633 Til Jie kyng Alayn he
spak, And teld hym what |?e vois had seyd. 1377 Langl.
A PI. B. XVIII. 260 A voice loude in J>at li^te to lucifer
cryeth. 1413 Jas. I Kingis Q. Ixxxiii, And there-with-all
apperit vnto me A voce, and said, * tak hede, man, and
behold '. 1470-85 Malory /4r/A«r XI. vi, 580 He herd a voys
that said go hens thow syrc Bors. isafi '1'indale Acts x.
13 And a voyce spake vnto hym from heven : Ryse Peter
Kyll and eate.