Part 628

3. Of or pertaining to vision; also, prying; inquisitive; curious. [R.] Bacon.

4. Of or pertaining to speculation in land, goods, shares, etc.; as, a speculative dealer or enterprise.

The speculative merchant exercises no one regular, established, or well-known branch of business.

A. Smith.

-- Spec"u*la*tive*ly, adv. -- Spec"u*la*tive*ness, n.

Spec"u*la`tor (?), n. [L., a spy, explorer, investigator: cf. F. spéculateur.] One who speculates. Specifically: (a) An observer; a contemplator; hence, a spy; a watcher. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

(b) One who forms theories; a theorist.

A speculator who had dared to affirm that the human soul is by nature mortal.

Macaulay.

(c) (Com.) One who engages in speculation; one who buys and sells goods, land, etc., with the expectation of deriving profit from fluctuations in price.

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Spec`u*la*to"ri*al (?), a. Speculatory; speculative. [Obs.]

Spec"u*la*to*ry (?), a. [L. speculatorius belonging to spies or scouts.] 1. Intended or adapted for viewing or espying; having oversight. T. Warton.

2. Exercising speculation; speculative. T. Carew.

Spec"u*list (?), n. One who observes or considers; an observer. [R.] Goldsmith.

Spec"u*lum (?), n.; pl. L. Specula (#), E. Speculum (#). [L., fr. specere to look, behold. See Spy.] 1. A mirror, or looking-glass; especially, a metal mirror, as in Greek and Roman archæology.

2. A reflector of polished metal, especially one used in reflecting telescopes. See Speculum metal, below.

3. (Surg.) An instrument for dilating certain passages of the body, and throwing light within them, thus facilitating examination or surgical operations.

4. (Zoöl.) A bright and lustrous patch of color found on the wings of ducks and some other birds. It is usually situated on the distal portions of the secondary quills, and is much more brilliant in the adult male than in the female.

Speculum metal, a hard, brittle alloy used for making the reflectors of telescopes and other instruments, usually consisting of copper and tin in various proportions, one of the best being that in which there are 126.4 parts of copper to 58.9 parts of tin, with sometimes a small proportion of arsenic, antimony, or zinc added to improve the whiteness.

Sped (?), imp. & p. p. of Speed.

Speece (?), n. Species; sort. [Obs.]

Speech (?), n. [OE. speche, AS. sp&?;c, spr&?;, fr. specan, sprecan, to speak; akin to D. spraak speech, OHG. sprhha, G. sprache, Sw. spr&?;k, Dan. sprog. See Speak.] 1. The faculty of uttering articulate sounds or words; the faculty of expressing thoughts by words or articulate sounds; the power of speaking.

There is none comparable to the variety of instructive expressions by speech, wherewith man alone is endowed for the communication of his thoughts.

Holder.

2. he act of speaking; that which is spoken; words, as expressing ideas; language; conversation.

Speech is voice modulated by the throat, tongue, lips, etc., the modulation being accomplished by changing the form of the cavity of the mouth and nose through the action of muscles which move their walls.

O goode God! how gentle and how kind Ye seemed by your speech and your visage The day that maked was our marriage.