Specular

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈspÉ›kjÊŠlÉ™/

Origin

From Latin speculāris, from speculum; and in some senses from speculārī ("to watch, observe"). Some later senses via French spéculaire.

Full definition of specular

Adjective

1. Pertaining to mirrors; mirror-like, reflective. from 17th c.
• 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 14:a perfect likeness would rather suggest a specular, and hence speculatory, phenomenon ....
2. (medicine) Of or relating to a speculum; conducted with the aid of a speculum.a specular examination
3. Assisting sight, like a lens etc.
• J. PhilipsThy specular orb
  Apply to well-dissected kernels; lo!
  In each observe the slender threads
  Of first-beginning trees.
4. (poetic) Offering an expansive view; picturesque.
• 1833, William Wordsworth, Hope Smiled:Calm as the Universe, from specular towers
  Of heaven contemplated by Spirits pure.
• MiltonLook once more, ere we leave this specular mount.

Derived terms

• despecularize
• specular iron
• specularity
• specularize
• specular stone