speculate
English · Italiano · Thesaurus
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
speculate
- /ˈspɛk.jʊˌleɪt/ UK
- /ˈspɛk.jəˌleɪt/ Canada, US
- /ˈspek.jəˌlæɪt/ Australia, New Zealand
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin speculātus, perfect active participle of speculor (“to watch, observe, examine, spy”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from specula (“a watchtower”), ultimately from speciō (“to look at”).
verb speculates · speculating · speculated
- To think, meditate or reflect on a subject; to consider, to deliberate or cogitate. It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society.
- To make an inference based on inconclusive evidence; to surmise or conjecture. We can speculate that in many instances the sharks are not feeding on their victims, but only in a few cases can we guess what they are doing.
- To make a risky trade in the hope of making a profit; to venture or gamble. Some preliminary legal arrangements were made, but the scheme proceeded no further, as the various local authorities concerned were unwilling to speculate public funds on what was, even at that date, a will o' the wisp.
- To anticipate which branch of code will be chosen and execute it in advance.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: contemplate, think over, chew over, mull over, mull, ponder, meditate, hypothesize, conjecture, suppose, theorize, muse, job, hypothecate, theorise, reflect
Translations
Every language
verb (obsolete in English) to meditate
| 中文 | 沉思 chénsī |
|---|---|
| Français | spéculer |
| Deutsch | spekulieren, Vermutungen anstellen |
| Italiano | cogitare, meditare, escogitare |
| Русский | размышля́ть razmyšljátʹ, де́лать предположе́ния délatʹ predpoložénija |
verb to make an inference based on inconclusive evidence
| Español | especular, elucubrar |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 猜測 /猜测 cāicè, 推測 /推测 tuīcè |
| Deutsch | vermuten |
| Italiano | speculare, elucubrare |
| Русский | предполага́ть predpolagátʹ |
verb to make a risky trade
| 中文 | 投機 /投机 tóujī, 投機倒把 /投机倒把 tóujī dǎobǎ |
|---|---|
| Français | spéculer |
| Deutsch | spekulieren |
| Italiano | speculare, giocare, investire, approfittarsi |
| Русский | спекули́ровать spekulírovatʹ |
Talk about this word "speculate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/speculate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. speculate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/speculate "speculate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/speculate.Cite this
@misc{speculate_2026,
title = {speculate},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/speculate},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
