Added 10 October 2026
speculator
/ˈspɛkjʊˌleɪtə/ noun
Latin root: speculātor Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about speculator at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Someone who makes conjectures without knowing the facts.
- Someone who risks losses for the possibility of considerable gains.
Origin
From Latin speculātor (“spy, explorer, investigator”), from speculor (“to watch, to observe”) + -tor (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from specula (“watchtower”), from speciō (“to watch, to observe”), q.v. In some senses, an agent noun formed within English from speculate. Doublet of spectator.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)