specimen

From Latin specimen (“mark, sign, example”), from speciō (“observe, watch”).

• (Canada, UK) IPA^(key): /ˈspɛsɪmɪn/

specimen (plural specimens or specimina)

Postcard: "Be careful, Clara, that's a fine specimen!" (eligible man)

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

   early specimens of the art of Picasso

   • 2006, Bill Neal, Getting Away with Murder on the Texas Frontier

     To assure a defendant's acquittal, a lawyer usually needed only to convince the jury that the victim was a pretty sorry specimen of a human being.

2. A sample, especially one used for diagnostic analysis.
3. (humorous, often preceded with “fine”) An eligible man.

• sample
• individual

• species

specimen (plural specimens)

1. specimen, sample

From speciō (“observe, watch”) +‎ -men (noun-forming suffix).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈspe.ki.men/, [ˈspɛ.kɪ.mɛn]

specimen n (genitive speciminis); third declension

1. mark, token, sign, indication
2. example, pattern, model
3. ornament, honor

Third declension neuter.

• Catalan: espècimen
• English: specimen
• French: specimen
• Portuguese: espécime
• Spanish: espécimen

• specimen in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• specimen in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• specimen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • an ideal: species optima or eximia, specimen, also simply species, forma
    
• specimen in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016