specular
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈspɛkjʊlə/
Adjective

specular

  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.
    • Thy 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.
    • 1671, John Milton, “Book the Fourth”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398 ↗:
      Look once more, e're we leave this specular mount.



This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
Offline English dictionary