[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

speculation \spec`ula"tion\, n. l. speculatio a spying out,
   observation: cf. f. sp'eculation.
   1. the act of speculating. specifically: 
      1913 webster
      a examination by the eye; view. obs.
          1913 webster
      b mental view of anything in its various aspects and
          relations; contemplation; intellectual examination.
          1913 webster

                thenceforth to speculations high or deep
                i turned my thoughts.             --milton.
          1913 webster
      c philos. the act or process of reasoning a priori
          from premises given or assumed.
          1913 webster
      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.
          1913 webster

                sudden fortunes, indeed, are sometimes made in
                such places, by what is called the trade of
                speculation.                      --a. smith.
          1913 webster

                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.
          1913 webster
      e any business venture in involving unusual risks, with
          a chance for large profits.
          1913 webster

   2. a conclusion to which the mind comes by speculating; mere
      theory; view; notion; conjecture.
      1913 webster

            from him socrates derived the principles of
            morality, and most part of his natural speculations.
                                                  --sir w.
                                                  temple.
      1913 webster

            to his speculations on these subjects he gave the
            lofty name of the "oracles of reason." --macaulay.
      1913 webster

   3. power of sight. obs.
      1913 webster

            thou hast no speculation in those eyes. --shak.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

speculation
     n 1: a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence
          syn: guess, conjecture, supposition, surmise, surmisal,
           hypothesis
     2: 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" syn: conjecture
     3: an investment that is very risky but could yield great
        profits; "he knew the stock was a speculation when he
        bought it" syn: venture
     4: 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"
        syn: meditation
see also:
guess conjecture supposition surmise surmisal hypothesis 
venture meditation 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

126 moby thesaurus words for "speculation":
   abstraction, actuarial prediction, advisement, agiotage, analysis,
   apocalypse, arbitrage, betting, blind guess, bold conjecture,
   brainwork, brooding, buying in, calculated risk, cardsharping,
   casting lots, cerebration, chance, cogitation, conjecture,
   consideration, contemplation, counsel, deliberation, doctrinairism,
   doctrinality, doctrinarity, equity capital, evaluation,
   excogitation, explanation, flier, flutter, foreboding, forecast,
   forecasting, foreshowing, foresight, foretelling, fortune, gamble,
   gambling, gaming, guess, guesswork, hazard, hazarding, hunch,
   hypothesis, improbability, investment, liquidation, luck,
   lucubration, meditation, mere theory, musing, omen, opinion,
   perhaps, play, playing, plunge, pondering, postulation, prediction,
   prefiguration, prefigurement, prefiguring, presage, presaging,
   presentiment, preshowing, presignifying, prime investment,
   probability, profit taking, prognosis, prognostication, promise,
   prophecy, prophesying, prospectus, reflection, review, revolving,
   risk, risking, rough guess, round trade, rumination, scalping,
   shot, soothsay, sortition, sporting, spot sale, stab, staking,
   statistical prediction, stockjobbery, stockjobbing, study,
   studying, suppose, supposition, surmise, theoretic,
   theoretical basis, theoretics, theoria, theoric, theorization,
   theory, thinking, turn, uncertainty, unverified supposition,
   vaticination, venture, venture capital, wager, wagering, weighing,
   wild guess, wondering

[4] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

speculation, contracts. the hope or desire of making a profit by the 
purchase and resale of a thing. pard. dr. com. n. 12. the profit so made; 
as, be made a good speculation. 

Speculation >> S Words
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