Category:Specimen

Spec"i*men, n. Etym: [l., fr. specere to look, to behold. See spy.]

Defn: a part, or small portion, of anything, or one of a number of Things, intended to exhibit the kind and quality of the whole, or of What is not exhibited; a sample; as, a specimen of a man's Handwriting; a specimen of painting; aspecimen of one's art.

Syn. -- sample; model; pattern. -- specimen, sample. A specimen is a representative of the class of Things to which it belongs; as, a specimen of photography. A sample Is a part of the thing itself, designed to show the quality of the Whole; as, a sample of sugar or of broadcloth. A cabinet of minerals Consists of specimens; if a part be broken off from any one of these, It is a sample of the mineral to which it belongs. "several persons Have exhibited specimens of this art before multitudes of beholders." Addison. "i design this but for a sample of what i hope more fully to Discuss." Woodward.