Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Latin
Origin: , past participle of speculari 'to watch (secretly)', from specere 'to look (at)'

speculate

 verb
     
Related topics: Business Basics, Finance
spec‧u‧late
1 [intransitive and transitive] to guess about the possible causes or effects of something, without knowing all the facts or details:
She refused to speculate.
speculate on/about (why/what etc)
Jones refused to speculate about what might happen.
speculate that
Some analysts speculated that jobs will be lost.
2 [intransitive]BFBB to buy goods, property, shares in a company etc, hoping that you will make a large profit when you sell them
speculate in/on
He speculated in stocks.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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