speculum

English

14th to 16th century specula (medical instrument).

Disposable modern vaginal speculum (medical instrument).

Male American Black Duck with purple speculum.

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti

Proto-Italic *spekjō

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-trom

Proto-Indo-European *-tlom

Proto-Italic *-klom

Latin speculumlbor.

English speculum

Learned borrowing from Latin speculum.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈspɛk.jʊ.ləm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (UK, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈspɛk.jə.ləm/

Noun

speculum (plural specula or speculums)

2. (medicine) A medical instrument used during an examination to dilate an orifice.
4. A mirror, especially one used in a telescope.
5. (ornithology) A bright, lustrous patch of colour found on the wings of ducks and some other birds, usually situated on the distal portions of the secondary quills, and much more brilliant in the adult male than in the female.

   Synonyms: mirror, (archaic) (archaic) beauty spot

6. A lookout place.

Derived terms

• speculum metal

Related terms

• speculum literature

Translations

medical instrument

• Bulgarian: спекулум m (spekulum)
• Catalan: espècul (ca) m, espèculum (ca) m
• Dutch: eendenbek (nl) m, speculum (nl) n
• Esperanto: spegulumo (eo)
• French: spéculum (fr) m
• Hebrew: סְפֵּקוּלוּם m (spekulum) (loanword), מְפַשֵּׂק (m'fasék)
• Icelandic: spegill (is) m, slanga (is) f
• Latin: specillum n
• Polish: wziernik (pl) m inan
• Spanish: espéculo (es) m

patch of colour found on the wings of ducks and some other birds

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: siipipeili (fi)
• German: Flügelspiegel m
• Japanese: 翼鏡 (よくきょう, yokukyō)
• Low German: Flunkenspegel m
• Swedish: vingspegel c

Anagrams

• muscle up, muscle-up

Latin

Alternative forms

• speclum (Late Latin, proscribed)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti

Proto-Italic *spekjō

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-trom

Proto-Indo-European *-tlom

Proto-Italic *-klom

Latin speculum

By surface analysis, speciō (“look at”) +‎ -ulum (instrument suffix). Possibly from pre-Latin *spektlom, with the ending derived from the Proto-Indo-European instrument noun suffix *-tlom (see -culum). Alternatively from pre-Latin *spekelom or *spekolom, with the neuter form of the agent noun suffix -ulus. Compare spectrum.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈspɛ.kʊ.ɫũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈspɛː.ku.lum]

Noun

speculum n (genitive speculī); second declension

1. mirror, looking-glass

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	speculum	specula
genitive	speculī	speculōrum
dative	speculō	speculīs
accusative	speculum	specula
ablative	speculō	speculīs
vocative	speculum	specula

Derived terms

• dēspeculō

Related terms

• speculor

Descendants

• Vulgar Latin: speclum (see there for further descendants)
• → Catalan: espècul
• → English: speculum
• → French: spéculum
• → Italian: specolo
• → Portuguese: espéculo
• → Romanian: specul
• → Spanish: espéculo

Further reading

• “speculum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “speculum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "speculum", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “speculum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “speculum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “speculum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Romanian

Noun

speculum n (plural speculumuri)

1. alternative form of specul

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	speculum	speculumul	speculumuri	speculumurile
genitive-dative	speculum	speculumului	speculumuri	speculumurilor
vocative	speculumule		speculumurilor