9 results for: speculate

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

spec·u·late

Audio Help [spek-yuh-leyt] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used without object), -lat·ed, -lat·ing.

1.	to engage in thought or reflection; meditate (often fol. by on, upon, or a clause).

2.	to indulge in conjectural thought.

3.	to engage in any business transaction involving considerable risk or the chance of large gains, esp. to buy and sell commodities, stocks, etc., in the expectation of a quick or very large profit.

[Origin: 1590–1600; < L speculātus, ptp. of speculārī to watch over, explore, reconnoiter, deriv. of specula watch tower, n. deriv. of specere to look, regard; see -ate¹

]

—Synonyms 1. think, reflect, cogitate. 2. conjecture, guess, surmise, suppose, theorize.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
speculate

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

spec·u·late Audio Help   (spěk'yə-lāt') Pronunciation Key
v.   spec·u·lat·ed, spec·u·lat·ing, spec·u·lates

v.   intr.

To meditate on a subject; reflect.
To engage in a course of reasoning often based on inconclusive evidence. See Synonyms at think.
To engage in the buying or selling of a commodity with an element of risk on the chance of profit.

v. tr.
To assume to be true without conclusive evidence: speculated that high cholesterol was a contributing factor to the patient's health problems.

[Latin speculārī, speculāt-, to observe, from specula, watchtower, from specere, to look at; see spek- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

speculate
verb
1.	to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds; "Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps"
2.	talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion; "We were speculating whether the President had to resign after the scandal"
3.	reflect deeply on a subject; "I mulled over the events of the afternoon"; "philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years"; "The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate"
4.	invest at a risk; "I bought this house not because I want to live in it but to sell it later at a good price, so I am speculating"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
speculate [ˈspekjuleit] verb

to make guesses
Example: He's only speculating — he doesn't know; There's no point in speculating about what's going to happen.

Arabic:	يَتَحَزَّر، يَتَكَهَّن، يَتأمَّل
Chinese (Simplified):	推测
Chinese (Traditional):	推測
Czech:	dohadovat se
Danish:	spekulere
Dutch:	gissen
Estonian:	arvama, oletama
Finnish:	spekuloida
French:	spéculer (sur)
German:	Vermutungen anstellen
Greek:	κάνω υποθέσεις
Hungarian:	spekulál
Icelandic:	geta sér til um
Indonesian:	menduga-duga
Italian:	speculare

Japanese:	推測する
Korean:	추측하다
Latvian:	izteikt minējumus, *pieņēmumus
Lithuanian:	spėlioti
Norwegian:	spekulere
Polish:	zgadywać
Portuguese (Brazil):	especular
Portuguese (Portugal):	especular
Romanian:	a face speculaţii, *presupuneri
Russian:	строить предположения
Slovak:	uvažovať, premýšľať
Slovenian:	razmišljati
Spanish:	especular
Swedish:	spekulera
Turkish:	tahmin etmek

See also: speculation, "speculate" in any language

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry: spec·u·late
Pronunciation: 'spe-ky&-"lAt
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: -lat·ed; -lat·ing
intransitive verb 1 : to theorize on the basis of insufficient evidence
NOTE: A jury is not permitted to speculate on a matter about which insufficient evidence has been presented in reaching its verdict.
2 : to assume a business risk in hope of gain; especially : to buy or sell in expectation of profiting from market fluctuations transitive verb : to take to be true on the basis of insufficient evidence —spec·u·la·tor /-"lA-t&r/ noun

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Speculate

Pil"lo*ry\, n.; pl. Pillories. [F. pilori; cf. Pr. espitlori, LL. piloricum, pilloricum, pellericum, pellorium, pilorium, spilorium; perhaps from a derivative of L. speculari to look around, observe. Cf. Speculate.] A frame of adjustable boards erected on a post, and having holes through which the head and hands of an offender were thrust so as to be exposed in front of it. --Shak.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Speculate

Spec"u*late\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Speculated; p. pr. & vb. n. Speculating.] [L. speculatus, p. p. of speculari to spy out, observe, fr. specula a lookout, fr. specere to look. See Spy.]

1. To consider by turning a subject in the mind, and viewing it in its different aspects and relations; to meditate; to contemplate; to theorize; as, to speculate on questions in religion; to speculate on political events.

It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most pefect quietude to the external regulations of society. --Hawthorne.

2. (Philos.) To view subjects from certain premises given or assumed, and infer conclusions respecting them a priori.

3. (Com.) To purchase with the expectation of a contingent advance in value, and a consequent sale at a profit; -- often, in a somewhat depreciative sense, of unsound or hazardous transactions; as, to speculate in coffee, in sugar, or in bank stock.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Speculate

Spec"u*late\, v. t. To consider attentively; as, to speculate the nature of a thing. [R.] --Sir W. Hamilton.

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