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specimen

[ spes-uh-muhn ]
/ ˈspɛs ə mən /
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See synonyms for: specimen / specimens on Thesaurus.com

noun
a part or an individual taken as exemplifying a whole mass or number; a typical animal, plant, mineral, part, etc.
(in medicine, microbiology, etc.) a sample of a substance or material for examination or study: a urine specimen; a tissue specimen.
a particular or peculiar kind of person.
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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

synonym study for specimen

1. See example.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use specimen in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for specimen

specimen
/ (ˈspɛsɪmɪn) /

noun
  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
med a sample of tissue, blood, urine, etc, taken for diagnostic examination or evaluation
the whole or a part of an organism, plant, rock, etc, collected and preserved as an example of its class, species, etc
informal, often derogatory a person

Word Origin for specimen

C17: from Latin: mark, evidence, proof, from specere to look at
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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