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.

Noun

(en noun)

A recipient of hospitality, specifically someone staying by invitation at the house of another.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.}}

A patron or customer in a hotel etc.

An invited visitor or performer to an institution or to a broadcast.