reported speech
ˌindirect ˈspeech 
British English, indirect discourse American English (also reported speech) noun [uncountable] technical
a way of reporting what someone said without repeating their exact words. For example, in the sentence ‘Julia said that she didn’t want to go’, the clause ‘that she didn’t want to go’ is indirect speech. Her actual words were ‘I don’t want to go’. ⇨ direct speech
reˌported ˈspeech noun [uncountable] technical
in grammar, words that are used to tell what someone says without repeating their actual words. ‘She said she didn’t feel well’ is an example of reported speech
SYN indirect speech
OPP direct speech
| I |
British English, indirect discourse American English (also reported speech) noun [uncountable] technicala way of reporting what someone said without repeating their exact words. For example, in the sentence ‘Julia said that she didn’t want to go’, the clause ‘that she didn’t want to go’ is indirect speech. Her actual words were ‘I don’t want to go’. ⇨ direct speech
| II |
noun [uncountable] technicalin grammar, words that are used to tell what someone says without repeating their actual words. ‘She said she didn’t feel well’ is an example of reported speech
SYN indirect speech
OPP direct speech