APA Dictionary of Psychology

in the theory of speech acts, the act that is performed by saying something (e.g., asking, ordering, threatening), as opposed to the act of speaking itself (the locutionary act) or the act of causing a particular effect on others (e.g., persuading, amusing, inspiring) as a result of speech (the perlocutionary act). In practice, most utterances involve the performance of all three acts simultaneously. See also performative. [first described by British philosopher John Longshaw Austin (1911–1960)]