Speculation

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌspɛk.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/

Definitions

1. The act of forming theories or conjectures about a subject without firm evidence, or investing in ventures with the hope of gain but risk of loss
2. The activity of forming theories or guesses without strong proof, or engaging in financial endeavors that involve uncertain outcomes and potential risk for profit
3. The process of theorizing or conjecturing about events or situations lacking solid evidence, alongside the practice of investing in uncertain opportunities for potential financial gain

Etymology: The most striking thing about "speculation" is how far it has drifted from its roots in watching. Its Latin ancestor, "speculor," meant to spy out or observe from a lookout, and the Latin noun "speculatio" carried the sense of observation or contemplation. The idea of looking at something from a height, or scouting ahead, sits underneath the modern sense of forming an opinion about what cannot yet be seen. The word reached English from Old French "speculation," itself drawn from Late Latin, and it arrived in Middle English as "speculacioun." Early uses were close to the Latin sense of contemplative inquiry, the mind turning a matter over in thought. The leap to guessing without proof came gradually, as people began to use the same noun for reasoning about things that lay beyond direct observation. The word is built from "speculate" plus the suffix "-ion," which turns a verb into a noun of action. So "speculation" is literally the act of speculating, and the verb carries the older, watchtower-like image of the speculator as one who surveys from a vantage point.

Synonyms: conjecture, theory, hypothesis, guess, assumption

Antonyms: certainty, fact, proof, knowledge, truth