English Reference
adjective · determiner

said

adj. · det.
US /ˈsɛd/ UK /sˈɛd/ said

  1. 01 C1 Advanced FormalTechnical

    adj.used to talk about a person or thing that you have already mentioned.

    adj.referring to a person or thing previously mentioned or named; used to avoid ambiguity in formal contexts.

    Simple

    The said person must appear in court on Tuesday morning.

    In context

    The said property shall remain in the possession of the tenant until the contract expires.

    Usage

    Usually placed before the noun it modifies.

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is almost exclusively found in legal documents or very formal reports; it sounds unnatural in everyday conversation.

    aforesaidabove mentioned
  2. 02 C1 Advanced FormalTechnical

    det.the specific thing that was just talked about.

    det.functioning as a demonstrative to identify a specific entity already established in the text.

    Simple

    After the car was sold, said car was involved in an accident.

    In context

    The applicant must provide proof of identity; said proof must be a valid passport or driving license.


From Middle English seide (preterite) and seid, iseid (past participle), from Old English sǣde, sæġde (preterite) and ġesæġd (past participle), equivalent to say + -ed.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Old English sǣde
Level A1 · Beginner
Frequency Very common
Updated