speculum
/ˈspɛk.jʊ.ləm/
"speculum" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“speculum” is an uncommon English word, ranked #55,112 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #55,112
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A medical instrument used during an examination to dilate an orifice.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | speculum |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈspɛk.jʊ.ləm/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #55,112 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “speculum” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for speculum is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈspɛk.jʊ.ləm/. Corpus data places it at rank #55,112 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
speculum doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin speculum. The correct English form is speculum, spelled S-P-E-C-U-L-U-M.
Definition
- 1A medical instrument used during an examination to dilate an orifice.
- 2A mirror, especially one used in a telescope.
- 3A bright, lustrous patch of colour found on the wings of ducks and some other birds, usually situated on the distal portions of the secondary quills, and much more brilliant in the adult male than in the female.
- 4A lookout place.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin speculum.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “speculum”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-P-E-C-U-L-U-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈspɛk.jʊ.ləm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.