Etymograph

English

specimen

Specimen comes from Latin specimen ‘mark, sign, example’, from speciō ‘observe, watch’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speḱ-1‘to see, to look, to observe’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spéḱyeti2‘to be looking at, to keep looking at’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spekjō2‘to observe, see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspeciō3‘observe, watch’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspecimen3‘mark, sign, example’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1913specimen3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin specio
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English specimen
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia: “"You're a nice specimen for a clergyman," he said…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speḱ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti‘to see, to look, to observe’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spéḱyetiWiktionary, Latin specio‘to be looking at, to keep looking at’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spekjōWiktionary, Latin specio‘to observe, see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspeciōWiktionary, English specimen‘observe, watch’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspecimenWiktionary, English specimen‘mark, sign, example’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1913specimenWiktionary, English specimen. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia: “"You're a nice specimen for a clergyman," he said…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- ‘to see, to look, to observe’

spy, suspicion, microscope, espionage, skeptic, kaleidoscope, gyroscope, espy, 117 more

through Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti ‘to be looking at, to keep looking at’

scope, skeptical, macroscopic, endoscopic, spectroscopic, 115 more

through Proto-Italic *spekjō ‘to observe, see’

speculation, speculative, speculate, inconspicuous, specular, 27 more

through Latin speciō ‘observe, watch’

despite, respect, perspective, spite, aspect, inspector, spectrum, spice, expectation, inspection, spectacular, conspicuous, spectacle, retrospective, inspect, spectator, retrospect, expectant, specter, especial, speculator, circumspect, 29 more

Today it means

noun An individual instance that represents a class; an example.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “specimen”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti, Latin specio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- / specimen

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