specimen

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See also: spécimen

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A specimen stamp
Postcard: "Be careful, Clara, that's a fine specimen!" (eligible man)

Etymology

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From Latin specimen (mark, sign, example), from speciō (observe, watch).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈspɛsɪmɪn/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Hyphenation: spe‧ci‧men
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

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specimen (plural specimens or (extremely rare) specimina)

  1. An individual instance that represents a class; an example.
    early specimens of the art of Picasso
    • 2006, Bill Neal, Getting Away with Murder on the Texas Frontier:
      To assure a defendant's acquittal, a lawyer usually needed only to convince the jury that the victim was a pretty sorry specimen of a human being.
    1. (numismatics) A banknote printed for distribution to central banks to aid in the recognition of banknotes from a country other than their own
    2. (philately) A postage stamp sent to postmasters and postal administrations so that they are able to identify valid stamps and to avoid forgeries
  2. A sample, especially one used for diagnostic analysis.
  3. (humorous, often preceded with “fine”) An eligible man.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Interlingua

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Noun

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specimen (plural specimens)

  1. specimen, sample

Latin

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Etymology

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From speciō (observe, watch) +‎ -men (noun-forming suffix).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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specimen n (genitive speciminis); third declension

  1. mark, token, sign, indication, specimen
  2. example, pattern, model
  3. ornament, honor

Declension

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Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative specimen specimina
Genitive speciminis speciminum
Dative speciminī speciminibus
Accusative specimen specimina
Ablative specimine speciminibus
Vocative specimen specimina

Descendants

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  • Catalan: espècimen
  • English: specimen
  • French: spécimen
  • Portuguese: espécime
  • Spanish: espécimen

References

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  • specimen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • specimen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • specimen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • an ideal: species optima or eximia, specimen, also simply species, forma
  • specimen in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French spécimen.

Noun

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specimen n (plural specimene)

  1. specimen

Declension

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