Definitions for Speculation
ˌspɛk yəˈleɪ ʃənspec·u·la·tion

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.5 / 2 votes

1. guess, conjecture, supposition, surmise, surmisal, speculation, hypothesisnoun

   a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence

2. speculation, conjecturenoun

   a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence)

   "speculations about the outcome of the election"; "he dismissed it as mere conjecture"

3. speculation, venturenoun

   an investment that is very risky but could yield great profits

   "he knew the stock was a speculation when he bought it"

4. meditation, speculationnoun

   continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature

   "the habit of meditation is the basis for all real knowledge"

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.0 / 1 vote

1. speculationnoun

   The process of thinking or meditating on a subject

2. speculationnoun

   A judgment or conclusion reached by speculating

3. speculationnoun

   An investment involving higher than normal risk in order to obtain a higher than normal return

4. Etymology: From speculation (French: spéculation), from speculationem, from speculatio.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Speculationnoun

   Etymology: speculation, Fr. from speculate.

   1. Examination by the eye; view.2. Examiner; spy. This word is found no where else, and probably is here misprinted for speculator.

   They who have, as who have not, whom their great stars
   Throne and set high? servants
   Which are to France the spies and speculations,
   Intelligent of our state. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

   3. Mental view; intellectual examination; contemplation.

   In all these things being fully persuaded, that what they did, it was obedience to the will of God, and that all men should do the like; there remained after speculation, practice whereunto the whole world might be framed. Richard Hooker.

   Thenceforth to speculations high or deep,
   I turn’d my thoughts; and with capacious mind
   Consider’d all things visible. John Milton.

   News-writers afford matter of speculation. Addison.

   4. A train of thoughts formed by meditation.

   From him Socrates derived the principles of morality, and most part of his natural speculations. William Temple.

   5. Mental scheme not reduced to practice.

   This terrestrial globe, which before was only round in speculation, has since been surrounded by the fortune and boldness of many navigators. William Temple.

   6. Power of sight. Not in use.

   Thy bones are marrowless; thy blood is cold;
   Thou hast no speculation in those eyes
   Thou star’st with. William Shakespeare.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. speculation

   Speculation is the process of making decisions or forming opinions based on incomplete information, conjecture, or the potential for future events. This often involves high levels of risk and uncertainty. It can refer to financial transactions, such as buying stocks or commodities with the hope of profit as prices fluctuate, or to assumptions made in various fields like science, history, or philosophy.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Speculationnoun

   the act of speculating

2. Speculationnoun

   examination by the eye; view

3. Speculationnoun

   mental view of anything in its various aspects and relations; contemplation; intellectual examination

4. Speculationnoun

   the act or process of reasoning a priori from premises given or assumed

5. Speculationnoun

   the act or practice of buying land, goods, shares, etc., in expectation of selling at a higher price, or of selling with the expectation of repurchasing at a lower price; a trading on anticipated fluctuations in price, as distinguished from trading in which the profit expected is the difference between the retail and wholesale prices, or the difference of price in different markets

6. Speculationnoun

   any business venture in involving unusual risks, with a chance for large profits

7. Speculationnoun

   a conclusion to which the mind comes by speculating; mere theory; view; notion; conjecture

8. Speculationnoun

   power of sight

9. Speculationnoun

   a game at cards in which the players buy from one another trumps or whole hands, upon a chance of getting the highest trump dealt, which entitles the holder to the pool of stakes

10. Etymology: [L. speculatio a spying out, observation: cf. F. spculation.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Speculation

   Speculation is the practice of engaging in risky financial transactions in an attempt to profit from short or medium term fluctuations in the market value of a tradable good such as a financial instrument, rather than attempting to profit from the underlying financial attributes embodied in the instrument such as capital gains, interest, or dividends. Many speculators pay little attention to the fundamental value of a security and instead focus purely on price movements. Speculation can in principle involve any tradable good or financial instrument. Speculators are particularly common in the markets for stocks, bonds, commodity futures, currencies, fine art, collectibles, real estate, and derivatives. Speculators play one of four primary roles in financial markets, along with hedgers who engage in transactions to offset some other pre-existing risk, arbitrageurs who seek to profit from situations where fungible instruments trade at different prices in different market segments, and investors who seek profit through long-term ownership of an instrument's underlying attributes. The role of speculators is to absorb excess risk that other participants do not want, and to provide liquidity in the marketplace by buying or selling when no participants from the other categories are available. Successful speculation entails collecting an adequate level of monetary compensation in return for providing immediate liquidity and assuming additional risk so that, over time, the inevitable losses are offset by larger profits.

Matched Categories

1. • Contemplation
   • Hypothesis
   • Investment
   • Opinion

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Speculation' in Nouns Frequency: #1946

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Anagrams for Speculation »

1. peculations

2. placentious

How to pronounce Speculation?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Speculation in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Speculation in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Speculation in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of Speculation in a Sentence

1. The Supreme Committee:

   The campsite availability will make up a small percentage of the overall accommodation options in Qatar, we have always viewed the ability to camp as an offering of traditional Qatari hospitality, not as a solution to speculation around accommodation shortages.

2. Dean Baquet:

   I feel like sh-t as a leader and a journalist not answering questions that I’d haveSarah Huckabee Sandersanswer, the cryptic Times memohas driven speculation inside the newsroom over what precipitated the investigation. And the lack of transparency is also striking given the Times has aggressively covered workplace matters.

3. Ty Cobb:

   In response to media speculation and related questions being posed to the administration, the White House yet again confirms that the president is not considering or discussing the firing of Special Counsel, Robert Mueller.

4. Raul Bocanegra:

   It was a moment that I truly regret, that I am very sorry for, and for which I have accepted responsibility for my actions, these news reports have since fueled persistent rumors and speculation, and I do not believe that this is in the best interest of my constituents to continue to serve next term.

5. Joe Hockey:

   We need to make decisions now and we don't have time to go through a speculation process. We do not have time for people to suggest that they can build something that hasn't been built, no, we don't have time for that because Labor failed to make decisions.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Speculation
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Speculation
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=Speculation
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Speculation
6. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=Speculation
7. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Speculation