different between guesswork vs speculation

English

Alternative forms

• guess-work

Etymology

From guess +? work. Compare Dutch giswerk (“guesswork”).

Noun

guesswork (countable and uncountable, plural guessworks)

1. An estimate, judgment or opinion made by guessing, from limited information.

Related terms

• guesstimate

Translations

See also

• dead reckoning

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French speculation (compare French spéculation), from Late Latin specul?ti?, specul?ti?nem, from Latin speculor.Morphologically speculate +? -ion

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sp?kj??le???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n
• Hyphenation: spec?u?la?tion

Noun

speculation (countable and uncountable, plural speculations)

1. The process of thinking or meditating on a subject.
   • 2012, Caroline Davies, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announce they are expecting first baby (in The Guardian, 3 December 2012)[1]

     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.

2. (philosophy) The act or process of reasoning a priori from premises given or assumed.
3. A conclusion to which the mind comes by speculating; mere theory; notion; conjecture.
4. (business, finance) An investment involving higher-than-normal risk in order to obtain a higher-than-normal return.
5. 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.
   • 1776, Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

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

   • 1883, Francis Amasa Walker, Political Economy

     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.

6. Examination by the eye; view.
7. (obsolete) Power of sight.
8. 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.
9. (programming) The process of anticipating which branch of code will be chosen and executing it in advance.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:supposition

Derived terms

• "on speculation" (on spec) Creating a work with the hope of selling it, as opposed to creating a work "on commission" for hire.

Translations

Anagrams

• peculations, placentious, spinoculate