specular

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English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈspɛkjʊlə/

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 2011, p. 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.
    • (Can we date this quote by J. Philips and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      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.
    • (Can we date this quote by Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Look once more, ere we leave this specular mount.

Derived terms

Anagrams

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