speculate

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To form a guess or opinion about something without having all the facts.

   Reporters began to speculate about why the minister had resigned.

2. 2
   verb

   To buy or invest in something risky in the hope of making a large profit.

   He speculated on the stock market and lost most of his savings.

3. 3
   verb

   To think deeply and at length about a subject.

   The philosophers speculated on the nature of time itself.

Borrowed from Latin speculātus, perfect active participle of speculor (“to watch, observe, examine, spy”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from specula (“a watchtower”), ultimately from speciō (“to look at”).

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