speculum

speculum

English

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

Disposable modern vaginal speculum (medical instrument).

Male American Black Duck with purple speculum.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin speculum.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

speculum (plural speculums or specula)

1. (medicine) A medical instrument used during an examination to dilate an orifice.
2. A mirror, especially one used in a telescope.
3. (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) beauty spot

4. A lookout place.

Translations

medical instrument

Catalan: espècul (ca) m Esperanto: spegulumo French: spéculum (fr) m Icelandic: spegill (is) m, slanga (is) f Latin: specillum n Polish: wziernik (pl) m inan Spanish: espéculo m

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

German: Flügelspiegel m Japanese: 翼鏡 (よくきょう, yokukyō) Low German: Flunkenspegel m Swedish: vingspegel c

Anagrams

• muscle up, muscle-up

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Latin

Alternative forms

• speclum (Vulgar or Late Latin, Appendix Probi)

Etymology

From speciō +‎ -culum. Confer with spectrum.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈspe.ku.lum/, [ˈs̠pɛkʊɫ̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈspe.ku.lum/, [ˈspɛːkulum]

Noun

speculum n (genitive speculī); second declension

1. a looking-glass, mirror

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	speculum	specula
Genitive	speculī	speculōrum
Dative	speculō	speculīs
Accusative	speculum	specula
Ablative	speculō	speculīs
Vocative	speculum	specula

Related terms

• speculor

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’s 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

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Romanian

Noun

speculum n (plural speculumuri)

1. Alternative form of specul

Declension

Declension of speculum

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) speculum	speculumul	(niște) speculumuri	speculumurile
genitive/dative	(unui) speculum	speculumului	(unor) speculumuri	speculumurilor
vocative	speculumule		speculumurilor