speculator
/ˈspɛkjʊˌleɪtə/
Etymology
From Latin speculātor (“spy, explorer, investigator”), from speculor (“to watch, to observe”) + -tor (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from specula (“watchtower”), from speciō (“to watch, to observe”), q.v. In some senses, an agent noun formed within English from speculate. Doublet of spectator.
speculator means one who speculates; an observer; a contemplator. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 79 out of 100.
speculator is pronounced /ˈspɛkjʊˌleɪtə/.
Why “speculator” is a great word
SPECULATOR — [Noun] One who engages in the purchase and sale of assets, especially financial instruments, with the primary aim of profiting from short-term price fluctuations, often assuming significant risk. From the Latin speculātor ("spy, explorer, investigator"), from speculor ("to watch, to observe") and -tor ("-er: forming agent nouns"), ultimately from speciō ("to watch, to observe"). Unlike an investor, who cultivates an asset for its long-term yield, or an arbitrageur, who harvests a momentary price discrepancy, the speculator is a hunter of volatility, betting on the storm of collective sentiment. He is the figure hunched before the flickering terminal, translating rumor into position; the scent of ozone before a market crash; the one who sees not a field of wheat, but the shimmer of a price yet to be—a professional witness to the perpetual instability of value.
noun
- One who speculates; an observer; a contemplator.“a bold and paradoxical speculator”
- One who forms theories; a theorist.“[…] in things of Fact, the People are as much to be believed, as the most subtle Philosophers and Speculators, since here sense is the Judge.”
- One who speculates; as in investing, one who is willing to take volatile risks upon invested principal for the potential of substantial returns.“He had inherited his not inconsiderable fortune from an American cousin, who had in his time been a successful speculator—a speculator not exactly in crops, which are notoriously kittle-cattle, but in official crop reports.”
- Synonym of field goal.