speculum
[spek-yuh-luh m]
|
noun, plural spec·u·la [spek-yuh-luh] /ˈspɛk yə lə/, spec·u·lums.
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
1590–1600; < Latin: mirror, equivalent to spec(ere) to look, behold + -ulum instrumental suffix; see -ule
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for specula
Historical Examples of specula
I know of a gentleman who made a hundred of these specula with his own hands.
The Vast AbyssGeorge Manville Fenn
For they had not only to design and make the specula, but also the mountings of the mirrors as well.
Woman in ScienceJohn Augustine Zahm
In the construction of reflecting telescopes, concave mirrors, or specula, are combined with a double convex lens.
Popular Technology; Volume 2Edward Hazen
The specula are made of speculum metal, which is a composition of certain proportions of copper and tin.
Popular Technology; Volume 2Edward Hazen
I do not know whether before that the Abb Rochon had thought of using the metal Platina for the specula telescope.
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. I (of 9)Thomas Jefferson
speculum
noun plural -la (-lə) or -lums
Word Origin for speculum
C16: from Latin: mirror, 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
speculum
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
speculum
[spĕk′yə-ləm]
n. pl. spec•u•lums
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.