Lexical Definition

‎ῥέω‎ rhéō (hreh'-o) to say ^G:V
perhaps akin (or identical) with ‎ῥέω‎ (through the idea of pouring forth)

command, make, say, speak (of).

• to utter, i.e. speak or say

Abbott-Smith

λέγω, [in LXX very freq., chiefly for אמר; λέγει for נְאֻם, Ge 22:16, al.;]

1. in Hom., to pick out, gather, reckon, recount.
2. In Hdt. and Att., to say, speak, affirm, declare: absol., Ac 13:15 24:10; seq. orat. dir., Mt 9:34, Mk 3:11, Jo 1:29, al.; seq. ὅτι recit., Mk 3:21, Lk 1:24, Jo 6:14, al.; acc. et. inf., Lk 11:18, Jo 12:29, al.; after another verb of speaking, προσφωνεῖν κ. λέγειν, Mt 11:17, al.; ἀπεκρίθη (ἐλάλησεν) λέγων (καὶ λέγει; Dalman, Words, 24 ff.), Mt 25:9, Mk 3:33, 7:28, Lk 24:6, 7, al.; of unspoken thought, λ. ἐν ἑαυτῷ, Mt 3:9, Lk 3:8, al.; of writing, II Co 8:8, Phl 4:11, al.; λέγει ἡ γραφή, Ro 4:3, Ja 2:23, al.; c. acc. rei, Lk 8:8 9:33, Jo 5:34, al.; σὺ λέγεις (a non-committal phrase; Swete, Mk., 359, 369 f.), Mt 27:11, Mk 15:2, Lk 23:3, Jo 18:37; c. dat. pers., seq. orat. dir., Mt 8:20, Mk 2:17, al. mult.; id. seq. ὅτι, Mt 3:9, al.; c. prep., πρός, μετά, περί, etc., Mk 4:41, Jo 11:56, He 9:5, al.; to mean (cl.), Mk 14:71, Jo 6:71, I Co 10:29, al.; to call, name, Mk 10:18; pass., Mt 9:9, Mk 15:7, al (cf. ἀντι-, δια- (-μαι), προ-, συλ-λέγω).
SYN.: λαλέω, which refers to the utterance, as λέγω to the meaning of what is said, its correspondence with thought (Tr., Syn., Ixxvi; Thayer, s.v. λαλέω).

Abbott-Smith References

Liddell-Scott-Jones

form of: ἔπω

ἐρέω,

__BIonic dialect for ἐρῶ, I will say; see at {ἐρῶ}.