specular

Etymology

From Latin speculāris, from speculum; and in some senses from speculārī (“to watch, observe”). Some later senses via French spéculaire.

adj

1. Pertaining to mirrors; mirror-like, reflective.
   a perfect likeness would rather suggest a specular, and hence speculatory, phenomenon …. 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 14
2. (medicine) Of or relating to a speculum; conducted with the aid of a speculum.
   a specular examination
3. Assisting sight, like a lens etc.
   Thy specular orb / Apply to well-dissected kernels; lo! / In each observe the slender threads / Of first-beginning trees. 1708, John Philips, Cyder
4. (poetic) Offering an expansive view; picturesque.
   Calm as the Universe, from specular towers / Of heaven contemplated by Spirits pure. 1833, William Wordsworth, Hope Smiled