Spec`u*la"tion (?), n.
[L. speculatio a spying out, observation: cf. F. spéculation.]
1.
The act of speculating. Specifically: --
(a) Examination
by the eye;
view. [Obs.]
(b) Mental view of anything in its various aspects and relations; contemplation; intellectual examination.
Thenceforth to
speculations high or deep
I turned my thoughts.
Milton. (c) (Philos.) The
act or process of reasoning a priori from premises given or assumed.
(d) (Com.) 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.
Sudden fortunes, indeed, are sometimes made in such
places, by what is called the trade of speculation.
A. Smith.
Speculation, while confined within moderate limits, is the agent for
equalizing supply and demand, and rendering the fluctuations of price less
sudden and abrupt than they would otherwise be.
F. A. Walker. (e) Any business venture in involving unusual risks, with a chance
for large profits.
2. A conclusion to which the mind comes by
speculating; mere theory; view; notion; conjecture.
From him Socrates derived the principles of morality, and most part of
his natural
speculations.
Sir W. temple.
To his
speculations on these
subjects he gave the lofty name of the
"Oracles of Reason."
Macaulay.
3. Power of sight. [Obs.]
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes.
Shak. 4. 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.
Hear it pronounced