speculate
VerbOpen English WordNet
Verb (4)speculated, speculating
- to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds“Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps”Synonyms: theorizetheoriseconjecturehypothesizehypothesisehypothecatesupposeMore general expect, anticipateMore specific explicate, reconstruct
- talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion“We were speculating whether the President had to resign after the scandal”More general reasonMore specific suppose, guess
- reflect deeply on a subject“I mulled over the events of the afternoon”“philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years”“The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate”Synonyms: chew overthink overmeditateponderexcogitatecontemplatemusereflectmullmull overruminateMore general think, cogitateMore specific study, wonder, bethink, introspect, theologize, premeditate, cogitate, puzzle
- invest at a risk“I bought this house not because I want to live in it but to sell it later at a good price, so I am speculating”Synonyms: jobMore general invest, putMore specific bull
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L. speculatus, p. p. of speculari to spy out, observe, fr. specula a lookout, fr. specere to look. See Spy.
1. To consider by turning a subject in the mind, and viewing it in its different aspects and relations; to meditate; to contemplate; to theorize; as, to speculate on questions in religion; to speculate on political events.
It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most pefect quietude to the external regulations of society.— Nathaniel Hawthorne
2. Philos. To view subjects from certain premises given or assumed, and infer conclusions respecting them a priori.
3. Commerce To purchase with the expectation of a contingent advance in value, and a consequent sale at a profit; — often, in a somewhat depreciative sense, of unsound or hazardous transactions; as, to speculate in coffee, in sugar, or in bank stock.
To consider attentively; as, to speculate the nature of a thing. rare Sir William Hamilton
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54