to form an opinion or theory about something in advance of the evidence to support it; to conjecture
to assume a business risk in the hope of gain; esp to buy or sell in expectation of profiting from market fluctuations
to meditate on or ponder about something; to reflect
speculation /-ʹlaysh(ə)n/ noun
speculator noun
[Latin speculatus, past part. of speculari to spy out, examine, from specula watchtower, from specere to look, look at]