speculum

noun

a medical instrument for dilating a bodily passage or cavity in order to examine the interior

a mirror (especially one made of polished metal) for use in an optical instrument

Roots

specerespec- · Latin · to look at culum-ulum · Latin · instrument for

Synonyms & related words for speculum

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of speculum. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to speculum

Explore words related to speculum — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include colposcope, proctoscope, proctoscopic, rhinoscopy, urethroscope, proctoscopy, sigmoidoscope, endoscope. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Where does speculum come from?

The word speculum breaks down into 2 roots of Latin origin: spec, from Latin specere (“to look at”); and -ulum, from Latin culum (“instrument for”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.