Where does “specimen” come from?

Specimen comes from Latin specimen, derived from the Proto-Indo-European root speḱ- meaning "to look or observe" combined with the Proto-Indo-European suffix -mn̥.

specimen (English): An individual instance that represents a class;...

Definitions

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

Ancestry of “specimen”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinspecimenmark, token, sign, indication; example, pattern,...
2Latinspeciōto observe, watch, look at
3Proto-Italicspekjōto observe, to see
4Proto-Indo-Europeanspéḱyetito be looking at, to keep looking at
5Proto-Indo-Europeanspeḱ-to see, to look, to observe

Words derived from “specimen”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- →