speculum
pronunciation
How to pronounce speculum in British English:
UK [ˈspekjələm]
How to pronounce speculum in American English:
US ['spekjələm]
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- Noun:
- a mirror (especially one made of polished metal) for use in an optical instrument
- a medical instrument for dilating a bodily passage or cavity in order to examine the interior
Word Origin
- speculum (n.)
- 1590s, in surgery and medicine, "instrument for rendering a part accessible to observation," from Latin speculum "reflector, looking-glass, mirror" (also "a copy, an imitation"), from specere "to look at, view" (see scope (n.1)). As a type of telescope attachment from 1704.
Example
- 1. It is for this reason that the church praises her as the mirror of justice ( speculum justitioe ) .