speculator
|spec-u-la-tor|
🇺🇸
/ˈspɛkjəˌleɪtər/
🇬🇧
/ˈspɛkjʊlətə/
one who looks and guesses (often to profit)
Etymology
'speculator' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'speculator', where the root 'spec-' (from Latin 'specere') meant 'to look' or 'to observe'.
'speculator' came into English via Late Latin/Medieval Latin (e.g. Latin 'speculātor' / 'speculator') and through usage in French and scholarly Latin; the English noun developed from the verb 'speculate' in the 16th–17th centuries.
Initially related to 'one who observes or watches' (a lookout or observer), over time it came to mean both 'one who forms conjectures' and, in commerce, 'one who takes financial risks hoping for profit'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a person who engages in financial speculation: buying assets (stocks, commodities, property, etc.) hoping to profit from short-term price changes rather than long-term value.
During the boom many speculators bought properties hoping to sell them quickly at a higher price.
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Noun 2
a person who forms opinions or conjectures without firm evidence; someone given to theoretical guessing.
He was dismissed as a mere speculator on the committee, offering theories but no proof.
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Last updated: 2026/01/03 17:53