especulativo

Forms

especulativo (feminine especulativa, masculine plural especulativos, feminine plural especulativas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin speculātīvus (“speculative, contemplative”), a learned word.^[2][1][3][4] The Late Latin adjective is formed from speculor (“to watch, observe”) with the suffix -īvus.^[1] The verb is derived from specula (“watchtower”), and that from speciō (“to look at”).^[1][5] Corominas lists it among the learned words derived from that verb, beside especular and especulación.^[3][6]

The same Late Latin word gave Catalan especulatiu, French spéculatif, Italian speculativo and Portuguese especulativo.^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas, after Nougué, records the adjective in 1454 in Arévalo's Suma, and the feminine noun especulativa from 1438.^[3][6][4] Nebrija has it in his Spanish–Latin dictionary of 1495.^[3][6][8]

Semantic evolution

Percyvall in 1591 translated it “contemplative”, and Autoridades gave it as “belonging to speculation”, as in ciencia especulativa, quoting Luis de Granada's warning that the mind should not be too speculative.^[9][10] Salvá in 1846 and the Academy in 1869 had three senses: “having the power to speculate”, “arising from mere speculation, not put into practice” and “very thoughtful, given to speculation”.^[11][12] Domínguez found the last sense not in vogue, and noted that in business only especulador was properly used.^[13]

Moliner opposes it to práctico, for knowledge not aimed at an immediate practical end.^[14] Vox defines a speculative activity of the markets beside the senses of thought.^[15] The feminine noun especulativa names the faculty of the soul for speculation.^[2] In the Americas the word is recorded from 1571 in Mexico City.^[16]

Timeline

• 1438 – the feminine noun especulativa.^[6][4]
• 1454 – Arévalo's Suma has the adjective.^[3]
• 1495 – Nebrija's Spanish–Latin dictionary.^[6][8]
• 1571 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico City.^[16]
• 1591 – Percyvall translates it “contemplative”.^[9]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives ciencia especulativa.^[10]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives four senses and the Latin etymology.^[17]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to speculation (especulación).^[2][14]
2. Able to speculate or theorize.^[2]
3. speculative, theoretical: arising from reasoning alone, not put into practice: una teoría puramente especulativa.^[2][14][1]
4. Of a person: very thoughtful and given to meditation.^[2][14]
5. (economics) Relating to financial or commercial speculation: una subida especulativa de los precios.^[15]

Noun

1. especulativa (feminine): the faculty of the soul for speculating.^[2]

Related words

• especular
• especulación
• especulador
• Late Latin speculātīvus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. especulativo
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 739
4. ^ a b c Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 725
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. speculor
6. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. espectáculo
7. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 3, 632
8. ^ a b Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org
9. ^ a b Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 137
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 597
11. ^ Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 480
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 332
13. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 744
14. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. especulativo
15. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. especulativo
16. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. especulativo
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 458