/spes"euh meuhn/ , n.
1. a part or an individual taken as exemplifying a whole mass or number; a typical animal, plant, mineral, part, etc.
2. (in medicine, microbiology, etc.) a sample of a substance or material for examination or study: a urine specimen; a tissue specimen.
3. a particular or peculiar kind of person.
[ 1600-10; speci-, s. of specere to look, regard + -men n. suffix denoting result or means ]
Syn. 1. type, model, pattern. See example .