speculum

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Related to speculum: Pelvic exam

spec·u·lum

(spĕk′yə-ləm)

n. pl. spec·u·la (-lə) or spec·u·lums

1. A mirror or polished metal plate used as a reflector in optical instruments.

2. An instrument for dilating the opening of a body cavity for medical examination.

3. Zoology

a. A bright, often iridescent patch of color on the wings of certain birds, especially ducks.

b. A transparent spot in the wings of some butterflies or moths.

[Middle English, surgical speculum, from Latin, mirror, from specere, to look at; see spek- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

speculum

(ˈspɛkjʊləm)

n, pl -la (-lə) or -lums

1. (General Physics) a mirror, esp one made of polished metal for use in a telescope, etc

2. (Medicine) med an instrument for dilating a bodily cavity or passage to permit examination of its interior

3. (Zoology) a patch of distinctive colour on the wing of a bird, esp in certain ducks

[C16: from Latin: mirror, from specere to look at]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

spec•u•lum

(ˈspɛk yə ləm)

n., pl. -la (-lə), -lums.

1. a mirror or reflector, esp. one of polished metal, as on a reflecting telescope.

2. a medical instrument for rendering a part accessible to observation, as by enlarging an orifice.

3. a lustrous or colored area on the wings of certain birds.

[1590–1600; < Latin: mirror, derivative of spec(ere) to look]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	speculum - a mirror (especially one made of polished metal) for use in an optical instrument mirror - polished surface that forms images by reflecting light
	2.	speculum - a medical instrument for dilating a bodily passage or cavity in order to examine the interior medical instrument - instrument used in the practice of medicine

Translations

Spekulum

espéculo

speculum

[ˈspekjʊləm] N (speculums, specula (pl)) → espéculo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

speculum

n pl <specula> (Med) → Spekulum nt; (in telescope) → Metallspiegel m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

spec·u·lum

n. espéculo, instrumento para dilatar un conducto o cavidad.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

speculum

n (pl -la o -lums) espéculo

References in periodicals archive ?

After the insertion of a speculum, the cervical canal, cervix, uterus, ovaries, bladder and the rectum can also be examined.

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They will gently put a new, clean speculum into your vagina.

A quarter of women skip smear tests .. here's why you shouldn't miss yours; Cervical screening is fast, free and it could save your life by detecting cell changes that can lead to cancer EDITED BY SALLY MCLEAN

After she was anesthetized and unconscious, a second-year resident took a speculum that had been placed in the sterile field by a nurse, and inserted it in the patient's vagina.

Hot speculum burns patient: $547,090 award

But even in the United states, the use of a standard speculum to expand the vaginal canal has been identified as a factor in the resistance of some women to undergo screening.

GOODBYE SPECULUM? A novel device could change cervical cancer screening

Magister Jacobus de Ispania, Author of the Speculum musicae.

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Founder Urs Gaudenz has helped develop the open-source, downloadable software for a 3D printed speculum. Now, he, Ms.

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I felt relieved and hoped that, by the time I was old enough to need a pelvic exam, there'd be a better way to have it done than by using the speculum pictured in the brochure.

Make the speculum a part of your health care!

Bi-valved vaginal speculum and Deaver retractor were used to dis-impact the rim on three sides.

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Since feeling is first: teaching royal ethics through managing the emotions in the Late Middle Ages

The back endpaper guard contains fragments of a hitherto unrecorded copy of the fourteenth-century Middle English poem Speculum vitae.