speculum
a mirror or reflector, especially one of polished metal, as on a reflecting telescope.
Surgery. an instrument for rendering a part accessible to observation, as by enlarging an orifice.
Ornithology. a lustrous or specially colored area on the wings of certain birds.
Origin of speculum
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use speculum in a sentence
He studied science when he could, and hired a telescope, until he learnt to make his own specula and telescopes.
History of Astronomy | George ForbesVaginal and rectal specula have been found: also a forceps for removing fractured pieces of bone from the surface of the brain.
Outlines of Greek and Roman Medicine | James Sands ElliottThe Specula Melitensis Encyclica gives an account of a kind of calculating machine of his invention.
This artifice of a double melting is often had recourse to, and especially in casting the alloys for the specula of telescopes.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines | Andrew UreI know of a gentleman who made a hundred of these specula with his own hands.
The Vast Abyss | George Manville Fenn
British Dictionary definitions for speculum
/ (ˈspɛkjʊləm) /
a mirror, esp one made of polished metal for use in a telescope, etc
med an instrument for dilating a bodily cavity or passage to permit examination of its interior
a patch of distinctive colour on the wing of a bird, esp in certain ducks
Origin of speculum
1Collins 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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