-ləm noun
( plural specu·la -lə ; also speculums )
Etymology: Latin, mirror, from specere to look, look at — more at spy
1. : a tubular instrument for insertion into the opening of a passage of the body especially to facilitate visual inspection or medication
vaginal speculum
nasal speculum
2.
a. : an ancient mirror usually of bronze or silver
b. : a reflector of polished metal or of glass with a film of metal used in optical instruments
3. : a medieval treatise constituting a survey of life or of philosophy, history, and theology : a comprehensive, encyclopedic presentation of a subject aiming to be a compendium of all knowledge and usually beginning with the Biblical account of creation, giving an outline of history, and thence passing chiefly to theology and scholastic philosophy
4. : a drawing or table showing the relative positions of all the planets (as in an astrological nativity)
5. : a patch of color covering the distal portion of the secondaries of most ducks and some other birds (as domestic fowls), exposed in the closed wing, variously colored and often with bluish or greenish iridescence or a frame of a different color, and usually most brilliant in the adult male