Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, resembling, or produced by a mirror or speculum.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to a mirror; capable of reflecting objects: as, a specular surface; a specular mineral; specular metal (an alloy prepared for making mirrors).
  • Assisting or facilitating vision; serving for inspection or observation; affording a view: as, a specular orb (the eye or a lens); specular stone (an old name for mica used in windows, in Latin specularis lapis); a specular tower (one serving as a lookout).
  • In ornithology, of or pertaining to the speculum of the wing; ocellar: as, the specular area; specular iridescence.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Having the qualities of a speculum, or mirror; having a smooth, reflecting surface
  • adjective (Med.) Of or pertaining to a speculum; conducted with the aid of a speculum.
  • adjective obsolete Assisting sight, as a lens or the like.
  • adjective rare Affording view.
  • adjective (Min.) See Hematite.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Pertaining to sight or vision.
  • adjective poetic Offering an expansive view; picturesque.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective capable of reflecting light like a mirror

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

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