Speculatory
(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.
Speculist
(Spec"u*list) n. One who observes or considers; an observer. [R.] Goldsmith.
Speculum
(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
(Sped) imp. & p. p. of Speed.
Speece
(Speece) n. Species; sort. [Obs.]
Speech
(Speech) n. [OE. speche, AS. spc, spr, fr. specan, sprecan, to speak; akin to D. spraak
speech, OHG. sprahha, G. sprache, Sw. sprk, 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.
Chaucer.
The acts of God . . . to human ears
Can nort without process of speech be told.
Milton. 3. A particular language, as distinct from others; a tongue; a dialect.
People of a strange speech and of an hard language.
Ezek. iii. 6.
