To speculate is to guess or form ideas about something when you don’t have all the facts. It can also mean to take financial risks in hopes of big profit.
From Latin *speculatus*, past participle of *speculari* “to observe, spy out,” from *specula* “watchtower,” from *specere* “to look.” It shifted from careful watching to mental guessing.
Speculation started as careful observation from a lookout tower and ended up as armchair guessing and risky stock trading. The word tracks how humans moved from watching the world to betting on what might happen next.
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