Noun

(en noun)

Mental acceptance of a claim as likely true.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-12-06, author=(George Monbiot)

, volume=189, issue=26, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Why I'm eating my words on veganism – again , passage=The belief that there is no conflict between [livestock] farming and arable production also seems to be unfounded: by preventing the growth of trees and other deep vegetation in the hills and by compacting the soil, grazing animals cause a cycle of flash floods and drought, sporadically drowning good land downstream and reducing the supply of irrigation water.}}

Faith or trust in the reality of something; often based upon one's own reasoning, trust in a claim, desire of actuality, and/or evidence considered.

(countable) Something believed.

(uncountable) The quality or state of believing.

(uncountable) Religious faith.

(in the plural) One's religious or moral convictions.

Noun

(wikipedia speculation) (en noun)

The process of thinking or meditating on a subject.

* Milton

Thenceforth to speculations high or deep I turned my thoughts.

* 2012 , Caroline Davies, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announce they are expecting first baby'' (in ''The Guardian , 3 December 2012)[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/dec/03/duke-and-duchess-of-cambridge-expecting-baby?intcmp=122]

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have ended months of intense speculation by announcing they are expecting their first child, but were forced to share their news earlier than hoped because of the Duchess's admission to hospital on Monday.

(philosophy) The act or process of reasoning a priori from premises given or assumed.

A conclusion to which the mind comes by speculating; mere theory; notion; conjecture.

* Sir W. Temple

From him Socrates derived the principles of morality, and most part of his natural speculations .

* Macaulay

To his speculations on these subjects he gave the lofty name of the "Oracles of Reason".

(business, finance) An investment involving higher-than-normal risk in order to obtain a higher-than-normal return.

The act or practice of buying land, goods, shares, etc., in expectation of selling at a higher price, or of selling with the expectation of repurchasing at a lower price; a trading on anticipated fluctuations in price, as distinguished from trading in which the profit expected is the difference between the retail and wholesale prices, or the difference of price in different markets.

* A. Smith

Sudden fortunes, indeed, are sometimes made in such places, by what is called the trade of speculation .

* F. A. Walker

Speculation , while confined within moderate limits, is the agent for equalizing supply and demand, and rendering the fluctuations of price less sudden and abrupt than they would otherwise be.

Examination by the eye; view.

(obsolete) Power of sight.

* Shakespeare

Thou hast no speculation in those eyes.

A card game in which the players buy from one another trumps or whole hands, upon a chance of getting the highest trump dealt, which entitles the holder to the pool of stakes.