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DictionaryRoot: specere
Latin

specere

look

Forms

  • specere
  • -spic- — A changed form used inside Latin compounds.
  • spect- — The form used in derivatives referring to looking or having looked.

Origin

From an older Indo-European root usually reconstructed as *spek-, “observe.”

Note

Looking developed into ideas of attention, expectation, and judgment.

7 / 33
A South Asian carpenter checks support and balance of ladder before climbing, deliberate risk assessment.
noun

circumspection

sur-kuhm-SPEK-shuhn/ˌsɜːrkəmˈspekʃn/

Careful attention to risks and consequences before acting.

Etymology
circumLatinaround, on all sides
+spectLatinlook
+ionLatinan action, process, or result

Literally a “looking around,” circumspection connects observing one's surroundings with considering probable consequences. That broader attention becomes caution in choosing what to do or say.

Full entry

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