specular

English

Etymology

From Latin speculāris, from speculum; and in some senses from speculārī (“to watch, observe”). Some later senses via French spéculaire.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈspɛk.jʊ.lə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈspɛk.jə.lɚ/

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Adjective

specular (comparative more specular, superlative most specular)

1. Pertaining to mirrors; mirror-like, reflective. [from 17th c.]
   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 14:

     a perfect likeness would rather suggest a specular, and hence speculatory, phenomenon [...].

2. (medicine) Of or relating to a speculum; conducted with the aid of a speculum.

   a specular examination

3. Assisting sight, like a lens etc.
   • 1708, John Philips, Cyder:

     Thy specular orb / Apply to well-dissected kernels; lo! / In each observe the slender threads / Of first-beginning trees.

4. (poetic) Offering an expansive view; picturesque.
   • 1833, William Wordsworth, Hope Smiled:

     Calm as the Universe, from specular towers / Of heaven contemplated by Spirits pure.

   • 1671, John Milton, “The Fourth Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:

     Look once more, e're we leave this specular mount.

Derived terms

• despecularize
• specular iron
• specularity
• specularize
• specular stone

Anagrams

• capsuler, carpules, clear-ups, clears up, upscaler