specimen

American  

[spes-uh-muhn] / ˈspɛs ə mən /

noun

1. a part or an individual taken as exemplifying a whole mass or number; a typical animal, plant, mineral, part, etc.

   Synonyms:

   pattern, model, type

2. (in medicine, microbiology, etc.) a sample of a substance or material for examination or study.

   a urine specimen; a tissue specimen.

3. a particular or peculiar kind of person.

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specimen British  

/ ˈspɛsɪmɪn /

noun

1. 1. an individual, object, or part regarded as typical of the group or class to which it belongs

   2. ( as modifier )

      a specimen signature

      a specimen page

2. med a sample of tissue, blood, urine, etc, taken for diagnostic examination or evaluation

3. the whole or a part of an organism, plant, rock, etc, collected and preserved as an example of its class, species, etc

4. informal a person

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Related Words

See example.

Etymology

Origin of specimen

1600–10; < Latin: mark, example, indication, sign, equivalent to speci-, stem of specere to look, regard + -men noun suffix denoting result or means

Example Sentences

"And our specimen is also a juvenile or 'baby', so it's perfect for our dinosaur species name to honor Dooly."

From Science Daily

Captain was a massive specimen—spanning the width of Clare’s outstretched arms.

From Literature

The models were built using fossil specimens from museum collections around the world.

From Science Daily

Once collected, the specimens will be identified morphologically - meaning by their form, structure or shape -, photographed in high resolution, and analyzed using advanced genomic tools and other modern techniques.

From Science Daily

It had been tucked away in a museum drawer for decades as it was thought to have been an unremarkable specimen.

From BBC

Related Words

• copy
• exhibit
• variety