English Dictionary: specimen | by the DICT Development Group |
2 results for specimen | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
| |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Specimen \Spec"i*men\, n. [L., fr. specere to look, to behold. See {Spy}.] A part, or small portion, of anything, or one of a number of things, intended to exhibit the kind and quality of the whole, or of what is not exhibited; a sample; as, a specimen of a man's handwriting; a specimen of painting; aspecimen of one's art. Syn: Sample; model; pattern. Usage: {Specimen}, {Sample}. A specimen is a representative of the class of things to which it belongs; as, a specimen of photography. A sample is a part of the thing itself, designed to show the quality of the whole; as, a sample of sugar or of broadcloth. A cabinet of minerals consists of specimens; if a part be broken off from any one of these, it is a sample of the mineral to which it belongs. [bd]Several persons have exhibited specimens of this art before multitudes of beholders.[b8] --Addison. [bd]I design this but for a sample of what I hope more fully to discuss.[b8] --Woodward. |