daresay meaning (archaic): definition, etymology and quotations

daresay

verb

UK /ˌdɛəˈseɪ/ · US /ˌdɛəɹˈseɪ/

Etymology From dare say: dare (“to have enough courage (to do something)”) + say.

Archaic Chiefly in the form I daresay: to say something boldly; to affirm or assert.

[H]e daresays he has had conversations with Goodfellow after the sale of the property, and Goodfellow seemed satisfied that the declarant was to get payment of his money.1834 January 29, Patrick Shaw; Alexander Dunlop; J. M. Bell, reporters, “John Adamson, Advocator.—Skene—Outram. Walter Adamson, Respondent.—Jameson—Christison.”, in Cases Decided in the Court of Session, from Nov. 12, 1833, to July 29, 1834, volume XII, Edinburgh: […] Thomas Clark, […]; London: Saunders and Benning, →OCLC, page 362:

Broadly Chiefly in the form I daresay: to venture to say (as the speaker believes something is likely to be the case); to think something probable; to presume.

Are you going to stay up all night? I daresay that I am.
You daresay, Blanche. Ay, that is always the way; everybody daresay. Mrs. Grainger and John daresaid I should not miss Thomas, who is gone home for a week to get strong again after the ague, but I shall. Then they daresaid I should like his cousin Richard, who takes his place, just as well; but I shall not.1843, Ellen Pickering, chapter II, in The Grumbler; […], volume II, London: T[homas] C[autley] Newby, 65, Mortimer St. Cavendish Sq., →OCLC, page 53:

4 more examples

[S]he has more money than she can know what to do with; but she's as mean as she can well be. However, when she knows my position is desperate, she'll shell out handsomely, I daresay.1865, [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “‘And I—What I Seem to My Friend, You See!’”, in Sir Jasper’s Tenant […], volume III, London: John Maxwell and Company […], →OCLC, page 117:
[H]e brings out a crumpled piece of paper, and displays it in approved Dr. Marigold style, "Here's what the arsenic or strychnine was in, but now it is mixed with the dishes, knives, forks, spoons, biscuits, beef, &c.; in fact, our pantry and store-room are worse than a score of Pritchard's." Grand chorus, reprobatory of Max, who takes it very coolly, and says he daresays Dick has just spilt it, "his fingers being all thumbs," but never to mind, as he won't use any of the things till he has cleaned out the chest.1870 February–March, David Leslie, “Wild Life in South Africa”, in W[illiam] H[enry] Drummond, editor, Among the Zulus and Amatongas: With Sketches of the Natives, Their Language and Customs; and the Country, Products, Climate, Wild Animals, &c. […], Glasgow: […] W[illiam] Gilchrist, […], published 1875, →OCLC, section VI (A Night Round the Fire), page 132:
Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said: "one can't believe impossible things." / "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. There goes the shawl again!"1871 December 27 (indicated as 1872), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Wool and Water”, in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 100:
I daresay he's got other things to think of. I'll set all that right to-morrow.1873, [Margaret] Oliphant, “The Gathering of the Storm”, in Innocent: A Tale of Modern Life. […], volume III, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, & Searle, […], →OCLC, page 178:

Derived terms: daresaying