speculate
v.v. to guess about something without having all the facts. You use this when you are thinking about what might happen or why something is true.
v. to form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence. In financial contexts, it refers to engaging in risky transactions in the hope of profiting from short-term fluctuations in market value.
Scientists speculate that there might be water on that planet.
Investors began to speculate on the price of gold as the global economy showed signs of slowing down.
While the board refused to comment on the CEO's sudden departure, industry analysts continue to speculate about potential internal conflicts that may have precipitated the decision.
Borrowed from Latin speculātus, perfect active participle of speculor (“to watch, observe, examine, spy”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from specula (“a watchtower”), ultimately from speciō (“to look at”).
The verb is intransitive when used with 'on', 'about', or 'that' clauses; it is transitive when used in financial contexts to mean 'to risk'.
They speculated the reason of the crash.They speculated about the reason for the crash.When used to mean 'guess', the verb is usually intransitive and requires a preposition like 'about' or 'on' before the noun phrase.