specimen

From Latin specimen (“mark, sign, example”), from speciō (“observe, watch”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɛsɪmɪn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: spe‧ci‧men

• Audio (US):

  (file)

specimen (plural specimens or (extremely rare) specimina)

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

   early specimens of the art of Picasso

   a specimen of my own handwriting

   • 1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 34:

     "You're a nice specimen for a clergyman," he said at length, "with your preachin" an" your psalm-singin', an" your Sunday coat on."

   • 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.

   1. (numismatics) A banknote printed for distribution to central banks to aid in the recognition of banknotes from a country other than their own
   2. (philately) A postage stamp sent to postmasters and postal administrations so that they are able to identify valid stamps and to avoid forgeries
   3. (derogatory) An unpleasant or contemptible person.

      such a loathsome specimen of humanity

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

• sample
• individual

• species

specimen (plural specimens)

1. specimen, sample

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

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈspɛ.kɪ.mɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈspɛː.t͡ʃi.men]

specimen n (genitive speciminis); third declension

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

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

• → Catalan: espècimen
• → English: specimen
• → French: spécimen
• → Portuguese: espécime
• → Spanish: espécimen

• “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
• “specimen”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • an ideal: species optima or eximia, specimen, also simply species, forma
    
• specimen in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Borrowed from French spécimen.

specimen n (plural specimene)

1. specimen