Speculate - plus, 13 Breakfast Foods That Are Also Verbs

[Merriam-Webster]( WORD OF THE DAY July 18, 2019 speculate [Audio pronunciation]( verb | SPEK-yuh-layt Definition 1 a : to meditate on or ponder a subject : [reflect]( b : to review something idly or casually and often inconclusively 2 : to assume a business risk in hope of gain; especially : to buy or sell in expectation of profiting from market fluctuations 3 : to take to be true on the basis of insufficient evidence : [theorize]( 4 : to be curious or doubtful about : [wonder]( Scroll down for more about speculate TRENDING NOW: [condemn]( [gerrymander]( [gerrymandering]( [concentration camp]( [SEE ALL [>]]( PEOPLE ARE READING [13 Breakfast Foods That Are Also Verbs]( ['Concave' vs. 'Convex']( ['Inflame': Fired with Anger]( [The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 7/12/19]( WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE [Farm Idioms Quiz]( Not your children's farm quiz. [PLAY NOW]( Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try! [TAKE ME THERE [>]]( Did You Know? Speculate was adopted into English in the late 16th century from Latin speculatus, the past participle of the verb speculari, which means "to spy out" or "to examine." Speculari, in turn, derives from specula, meaning "lookout post," and ultimately from the Latin verb specere, meaning "to look (at)." Other conspicuous descendants of specere are [inspect]( and [suspect](. Some less obvious descendants are the words [despise]( [species]( [specimen]( and as you may have speculated, [conspicuous](. Examples of SPECULATE "Both celebrities have been [tweeting]( each other for a while now, leading fans to speculate about their relationship status." — Suzette Fernandez, Billboard.com, 5 June 2019 "Live footage showed that two hundred firefighters were attempting to tame the flames. Meanwhile [talking heads]( droned on and on, speculating about the source of the spark that destroyed the cathedral's wooden roof and [nave]( or how many billions it would cost to rebuild." — Christopher Schaefer, Commonweal, 17 May 2019 Word Family Quiz What English adjective is related to the Latin verb specere ("to look") and has the meaning "careful to consider all possible consequences"? [VIEW THE ANSWER [>]]( MORE WORD FUN: [WORD GAMES [>]]( [TRENDING NOW [>]]( [WORDS AT PLAY [>]]( FOLLOW US: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( SHARE: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [View this email in a web browser]( You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day. [Unsubscribe from Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day]( [Manage your subscription settings]( Merriam-Webster, Inc. 47 Federal Street, P.O. Box 281 Springfield, MA, 01102, USA [www.merriam-webster.com]( | [Privacy Policy]( © 2019 by Merriam-Webster, Inc.