specimen
noun
spec·i·men
ˈspe-sə-mən 
ˈspes-mən
1
a
: an individual, item, or part considered typical of a group, class, or whole
b
: a portion or quantity of material for use in testing, examination, or study
a urine specimen
2
a
: something that obviously belongs to a particular category but is noticed by reason of an individual distinguishing characteristic
b
: person, individual
he's a tough specimen
3
: a plant grown for exhibition or in the open to display its full development
specimen trees
Examples of specimen in a Sentence
The church is a magnificent specimen of baroque architecture.
Her dance partner is a superb physical specimen.
Recent Examples on the Web
In total, the researchers analyzed 357 contemporary mosquitoes and 22 historical specimens, and used additional mosquito samples from a separate study, which beefed up the overall count to about 800.
—
Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
In both the dinosaur mummy specimens, the skin, spikes, and hooves have not been preserved as tissue but as a sub-millimeter clay film that formed on the carcass surface soon after burial.
—Abhishek Bhardwaj, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2025
While the main colors of the frogs are the same across specimens, there is a lot of variation between frogs of the new species.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
This process is painstaking, and the clay on many previous specimens has been inadvertently damaged or removed during preparation.
—Andrea Tamayo, Scientific American, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for specimen
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Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
In both the dinosaur mummy specimens, the skin, spikes, and hooves have not been preserved as tissue but as a sub-millimeter clay film that formed on the carcass surface soon after burial.
—Abhishek Bhardwaj, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2025
While the main colors of the frogs are the same across specimens, there is a lot of variation between frogs of the new species.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
This process is painstaking, and the clay on many previous specimens has been inadvertently damaged or removed during preparation.
—Andrea Tamayo, Scientific American, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for specimen
Cite this Entry
“Specimen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/specimen. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
specimen
noun
spec·i·men
ˈspes-(ə-)mən
1
: a part or a single thing that shows what the whole thing or group is like : sample
2
: a portion of material for use in testing or examination
a blood specimen
3
: person sense 1, individual
he's a tough specimen
Medical Definition
specimen
noun
spec·i·men
ˈspes-(ə-)mən
1
: an individual, item, or part typical of a group, class, or whole
2
: a portion or quantity of material for use in testing, examination, or study
a urine specimen
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