Etymology

speculum

S1P3E1C3U1L1U1M3

Today it means: A medical instrument used during an examination to dilate an orifice. Full definition →

Latin speculum ← Proto-Italic *spekjō ← Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*speḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*spéḱyeti
  3. Proto-Italic*spekjō
  4. Latinspeculum
  5. English todayspeculum

Learned borrowing from Latin speculum.

Words from the same roots

Latinspeculum all →

speculum literature

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.