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/
Audio (UK) (file)
Adjective
specular (comparative more specular, superlative most specular)
- 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 [...].
- 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 14:
- (medicine) Of or relating to a speculum; conducted with the aid of a speculum.
- a specular examination
- 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.
- 1708, John Philips, Cyder
- (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 228732398:
- Look once more, e're we leave this specular mount.
- 1833, William Wordsworth, Hope Smiled:
Derived terms
- despecularize
- specular iron
- specularity
- specularize
- specular stone
Anagrams
- capsuler, carpules, clear-ups, clears up, upscaler