speculate

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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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) IPA(key): /ˈspɛk.jəˌleɪt/
  • (file)

Verb[edit]

speculate (third-person singular simple present speculates, present participle speculating, simple past and past participle speculated)

  1. (obsolete, intransitive) To think, meditate or reflect on a subject; to consider, to deliberate or cogitate.
  2. (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; […].
  3. (intransitive, business, finance) To make a risky trade in the hope of making a profit; to venture or gamble.
  4. (intransitive, programming) To anticipate which branch of code will be chosen and execute it in advance.

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Italian[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Verb[edit]

speculate

  1. inflection of speculare:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2[edit]

Participle[edit]

speculate f pl

  1. feminine plural of speculato

Latin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Participle[edit]

speculāte

  1. vocative masculine singular of speculātus