λέγω,

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

__1. in Hom. to pick out, gather, reckon, recount.

__2. In Hdt. and Att. to say, speak, affirm, declare: absol. Act.13:15, 24:10; before orat. dir. Mat.9:34, Mrk.3:11, Jhn.1:29, al.; before ὅτι recit. Mrk.3:21, Luk.1:24, Jhn.6:14, al.; accusative and inf. Luk.11:18, Jhn.12:29, al.; after another verb of speaking, προσφωνεῖν κ. λέγειν, Mat.11:17, al.; ἀπεκρίθη (ἐλάλησεν) λέγων (καὶ λέγει; Dalman, Words, 24 ff.), Mat.25:9, Mrk.3:33, 7:28, Luk.24:6, 7, al.; of unspoken thought, λ. ἐν ἑαυτῷ, Mat.3:9, Luk.3:8, al.; of writing, 2Co.8:8, Php.4:11, al.; λέγει ἡ γραφή, Rom.4:3, Jas.2:23, al.; with accusative of thing(s), Luk.8:8, 9:33, Jhn.5:34, al.; σὺ λέγεις (a non-committal phrase; Swete, Mk. 359, 369f.), Mat.27:11, Mrk.15:2, Luk.23:3, Jhn.18:37; with dative of person(s), before orat. dir. Mat.8:20, Mrk.2:17, al. mult.; id. before ὅτι, Mat.3:9, al.; with prep. πρός, μετά, περί, etc. Mrk.4:41, Jhn.11:56, Heb.9:5, al.; to mean (cl.), Mrk.14:71, Jhn.6:71, 1Co.10:29, al.; to call, name, Mrk.10:18; pass. Mat.9:9, Mrk.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, see word λαλέω). (AS)

to pick out; gather; reckon; recount; to say; speak; affirm; declare; to mean; to call; name