English

Noun

specimen ‎(plural specimens or specimina)

1. An individual instance that represents a class; an example.

   early specimens of the art of Picasso

   • 2006, Bill Neal, Getting Away with Murder on the Texas Frontier

     To assure a defendant's acquittal, a lawyer usually needed only to convince the jury that the victim was a pretty sorry specimen of a human being.

2. A sample, especially one used for diagnostic analysis.
3. (humorous, often preceded with “fine”) An eligible man.

   Examples: Postcard: Leap Year, 1908, Postcard: Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut

Synonyms

• sample
• individual

Related terms

• species

Translations

Latin

Etymology

From speciō ‎(“observe, watch”) +‎ -men ‎(noun-forming suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈspe.ki.men/, [ˈspɛ.kɪ.mẽ]

Noun

specimen n ‎(genitive speciminis); third declension

1. mark, token, sign, indication
2. example, pattern, model
3. ornament, honor

Inflection

Third declension neuter.

Descendants

• English: specimen

References

• specimen in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• specimen in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “specimen”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • an ideal: species optima or eximia, specimen, also simply species, forma
    
• specimen in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016