speculate
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin speculātus, past participle of speculor (“look out”), from specula (“watchtower”), from speciō (“look at”).
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈspɛk.jʊˌleɪt/
- (US, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈspɛk.jəˌleɪt/
Audio (US) (file)
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈspek.jəˌlæɪt/
Verb edit
speculate (third-person singular simple present speculates, present participle speculating, simple past and past participle speculated)
- (obsolete, intransitive) To think, meditate or reflect on a subject; to consider, to deliberate or cogitate.
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 13, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
- It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society.
- (intransitive) To make an inference based on inconclusive evidence; to surmise or conjecture.
- 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 171:
- We can speculate that in many instances the sharks are not feeding on their victims, but only in a few cases can we guess what they are doing.
- 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
- It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].
- (intransitive, business, finance) To make a risky trade in the hope of making a profit; to venture or gamble.
- 1951 May, R. K. Kirkland, “The Cavan & Leitrim Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 345:
- Some preliminary legal arrangements were made, but the scheme proceeded no further, as the various local authorities concerned were unwilling to speculate public funds on what was, even at that date, a will o' the wisp.
- (intransitive, programming) To anticipate which branch of code will be chosen and execute it in advance.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
(obsolete in English) to meditate
|
to make an inference based on inconclusive evidence
|
to make a risky trade
|
Further reading edit
- “speculate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “speculate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams edit
Italian edit
Etymology 1 edit
Verb edit
speculate
- inflection of speculare:
Etymology 2 edit
Participle edit
speculate f pl
Latin edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /spe.kuˈlaː.te/, [s̠pɛkʊˈɫ̪äːt̪ɛ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /spe.kuˈla.te/, [spekuˈläːt̪e]
Participle edit
speculāte