Talk:specimen

You can't say "she's a fine specimen"? --Connel MacKenzie 07:00, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

These definitions could use some work. A specimen is usually something physical you can examine, especially an animal or (figurative) a person.

Why "especially an animal or a person"? A blood sample is neither an animal not a person. A flower specimen isn't either. I'm also not sure that "specimen" is necessarily a physical or visible item, since you can have a specimen of atmosphere or a specimen of speech. --EncycloPetey 03:16, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Additionally, in typography specimen means (as I understand it) a PDF, image, webpage, or a physical sheet of text in a font or a family of fonts. Examples:

• "To see them at full resolution, download the complete type specimen." [1]
• "The current state of the font can be viewed in the Specimen." [2]
• "Specimens etc." [3]

Perhaps this definition could be refined and/or clarified by others, then added to the article? -- 12.218.76.10 00:58, 9 July 2013 (UTC)