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 specula or speculums)

1. (medicine) A medical instrument used during an examination to dilate an orifice.
3. A mirror, especially one used in a telescope.
4. (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

5. A lookout place.

Derived terms

• speculum metal

Related terms

• speculum literature

Translations

medical instrument

• Catalan: espècul (ca) m
• Dutch: eendenbek (nl) m, speculum (nl) n
• Esperanto: spegulumo (eo)
• 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

• Finnish: siipipeili
• 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, proscribed)

Etymology

From speciō +‎ -ulum (instrument noun suffix). Compare with spectrum.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

speculum n (genitive speculī); second declension

1. mirror, looking-glass / 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

Related terms

• speculor

Descendants

• Late 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’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

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