specimen

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See also: spécimen

English

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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈspɛsɪmɪn/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: spe‧ci‧men
  • (file)

Noun

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

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Interlingua

Noun

specimen (plural specimens)

  1. specimen, sample

Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

specimen n (genitive speciminis); third declension

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

Declension

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

References

  • 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, 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, pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French spécimen.

Noun

specimen n (plural specimene)

  1. specimen

Declension