Speculate

WORD OF THE DAY

speculate / verb / SPEK-yuh-layt

Definition

1a: to meditate on or ponder a subject 

1b: reflect

1c: to review something idly or casually and often inconclusively

2a: to assume a business risk in hope of gain

2b: to buy or sell in expectation of profiting from market fluctuations

3a: to take to be true on the basis of insufficient evidence3b: theorize

4a: to be curious or doubtful about

4b: wonder

Examples

"Both celebrities have been tweeting each other for a while now, leading fans to speculate about their relationship status." 

— Suzette Fernandez, Billboard.com, 5 June 2019

"Live footage showed that two hundred firefighters were attempting to tame the flames. Meanwhile talking heads droned on and on, speculating about the source of the spark that destroyed the cathedral's wooden roof and nave or how many billions it would cost to rebuild." 

— Christopher Schaefer, Commonweal, 17 May 2019

Did You Know?

Speculate was adopted into English in the late 16th century from Latin speculatus, the past participle of the verb speculari, which means "to spy out" or "to examine." 

Speculari, in turn, derives from specula, meaning "lookout post," and ultimately from the Latin verb specere, meaning "to look (at)." 

Other conspicuous descendants of specere are inspect and suspect. Some less obvious descendants are the words despise, species, specimen, and as you may have speculated, conspicuous.