specimen

American  

[spes-uh-muhn] / ˈspɛs ə mən /

noun

1. a part or an individual taken as exemplifying a whole mass or number; a typical animal, plant, mineral, part, etc.

   Synonyms:

   pattern, model, type

2. (in medicine, microbiology, etc.) a sample of a substance or material for examination or study.

   a urine specimen; a tissue specimen.

3. a particular or peculiar kind of person.

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specimen British  

/ ˈspɛsɪmɪn /

noun

1. 1. an individual, object, or part regarded as typical of the group or class to which it belongs

   2. ( as modifier )

      a specimen signature

      a specimen page

2. med a sample of tissue, blood, urine, etc, taken for diagnostic examination or evaluation

3. the whole or a part of an organism, plant, rock, etc, collected and preserved as an example of its class, species, etc

4. informal a person

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Related Words

See example.

Etymology

Origin of specimen

1600–10; < Latin: mark, example, indication, sign, equivalent to speci-, stem of specere to look, regard + -men noun suffix denoting result or means

Example Sentences

All collected specimens were engorged, showing they had fed enough to significantly increase their size.

From Science Daily

They analyzed lithium isotopes in Ediacara fossils collected from Newfoundland and northwest Canada, studying specimens preserved in both sandy and muddy sediments.

From Science Daily

With the whole family looking at him, he suddenly felt like a lab specimen.

From Literature

To explore how these massive animals moved, Megan Jones and her colleagues examined the hindlimbs of 94 modern specimens and 40 fossil specimens representing 63 species of kangaroos and wallabies.

From Science Daily

Gen. Ambrose Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac, “but if the couchant lion postpones his spring too long, people will begin wondering whether he is not a stuffed specimen after all.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• copy
• exhibit
• variety