3 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Speculate \Spec"u*late\, v. t.
To consider attentively; as to speculate the nature of a
thing [R.] --Sir W. Hamilton.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Speculate \Spec"u*late\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Speculated}; p.
pr & vb n. {Speculating}.] [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. --Hawthorne.
2. (Philos.) To view subjects from certain premises given or
assumed, and infer conclusions respecting them a priori.
3. (Com.) 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.
From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]:
speculate
v 1: to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds:
"Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in
swamps." [syn: {theorize}, {theorise}, {conjecture}, {hypothesize},
{hypothecate}, {suppose}]
2: indulge in speculations
3: think about at length and in depth; "I mulled over the
events of the afternoon" [syn: {chew over}, {think over},
{meditate}, {ponder}, {contemplate}, {muse}, {reflect}, {mull},
{mull over}, {ruminate}]
4: invest at a risk [syn: {job}]
more about speculate
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