speculum
/ˈspɛkjʊləm
/noun (plural specula /ˈspɛkjʊlə/)
1 Medicine A metal instrument that is used to dilate an orifice or canal in the body to allow inspection.An instrument called a speculum, the same as used for a smear test, is sometimes used....
- Your eyelids will be opened up using a small instrument called a speculum.
- With the headlight and speculum the external auditory canal is inspected and cleared of any obstructing wax or debris.
2 Ornithology A bright patch of plumage on the wings of certain birds, especially a strip of metallic sheen on the secondary flight feathers of many ducks.The latter is important because dabbling ducks have a coloured area in the wing called the speculum....
- Both sexes have orange feet and a blue speculum, or wing-patch, bordered in white on two sides, best seen in flight.
- Both sexes have a black and white wing-patch, or speculum, that is distinctive in flight.
3A mirror or reflector of glass or metal, especially (formerly) a metallic mirror in a reflecting telescope.This work of light allows us to see the shapes of the world reflected on the optical speculum....
- A headlamp or head mirror and a nasal speculum should be used for optimal visualization.
- If light ‘sees,’ then the speculum which reflects this seeing light can analogically participate in the solar vision that it reflects; it can derive from it its own vision.
3.1 short for speculum metal.He made his mirrors from speculum metal - four parts copper to one part tin - but had to construct a forge to melt the speculum and cast the disc from which the mirror could be ground.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin, literally 'mirror', from specere 'to look'.