speculation : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: speculation	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for speculation
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
speculation n a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence Synonym(s): guess, conjecture, supposition, surmise, surmisal, speculation, hypothesis a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence); "speculations about the outcome of the election"; "he dismissed it as mere conjecture" Synonym(s): speculation, conjecture an investment that is very risky but could yield great profits; "he knew the stock was a speculation when he bought it" Synonym(s): speculation, venture continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature; "the habit of meditation is the basis for all real knowledge" Synonym(s): meditation, speculation
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Speculation \Spec`u*la"tion\, n. [L. speculatio a spying out, observation: cf. F. sp[82]culation.] 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.