An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

To guess possible answers to a question when there are not enough information to be certain.

Back formation from O.Fr. speculation, from L. speculatus, p.p. of speculari "to watch over, observe," from specula "watch tower," from specere "to look at, regard," cognate with Av. spas- "to attend; to serve," spasiieiti "looks at, perceives;" Pers. sepâs "kindness, thanksgiving;" Skt. spasati "sees;" Gk. skopein "to behold, look, consider," skeptesthai "to look at;" O.H.G. spehhon "to spy;" Ger. spähen "to spy;" PIE *spek- "to look around, observe."

Gâsidan infinitive from gâs, from Av. kas- "to look at, see," with extension of the vowel and change of the last phoneme from k to g, as in and cognate with negâh (Mid.Pers. nikâh), → look, âgâh (Mid.Pers. âkâh) "aware" (→ Space Situational Awareness), pargast "God forbid!," and maybe (Lori, Laki, Torbat-Heydarie-yi) gâs "perhaps," (Shirâzi, Fasâyi) gâsam "maybe;" cf. Skt. kāś- "to become visible, appear;" Gk. tekmor, tekmar "sign, mark;" PIE base *k^wek- "to appear, show."