Hypertext Webster Gateway: "speculator"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Speculator \Spec"u*la`tor\, n. [L., a spy, explorer,
investigator: cf. F. sp['e]culateur.]
One who speculates. Specifically:
(a) An observer; a contemplator; hence, a spy; a watcher.
[Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.
(b) One who forms theories; a theorist.
A speculator who had dared to affirm that the human
soul is by nature mortal. --Macaulay.
(c) (Com.) One who engages in speculation; one who buys and
sells goods, land, etc., with the expectation of deriving
profit from fluctuations in price.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
speculator
n 1: someone who makes conjectures without knowing the facts
2: someone who risks losses for the possibility of considerable
gains [syn: {plunger}]
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