spectation

spectation

English

Etymology

From Latin spectatio.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /spɛkˈteɪʃən/

Noun

spectation (uncountable)

1. (archaic, rare) Regard; aspect; appearance.
   • 1672, Gideon Harvey, Morbus Anglicus, Or, The Anatomy of Consumptions:

     This simple spectation of the lungs is differenced from that which concomitates a pleurisy.

2. (rare) The act of watching something; observation.
   • 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest, Abacus 2013, p. 34:

     the medical attaché is permitted to ease effortlessly from unwound spectation into a fully relaxed night's sleep, still right there in the recumbent recliner […]

Further reading

• spectation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams

• constipate, copatients