A physical sample collected for scientific study, display, or reference, such as a biological specimen or a mineral sample.
I saw insect specimens at the museum.
This plant specimen was collected 100 years ago.
classic example; type; representative case
A typical or representative example of a category, often used in abstract or explanatory contexts.
This work is a good example of Edo-period ukiyo-e.
In statistics, a subset of a population used for analysis.
We randomly selected a sample for the survey.
I collected a specimen of a rare insect in the mountains.
His behavior is a classic example of bureaucratic thinking.
For the survey, a sample of one thousand people was drawn from the whole population.
This plant specimen is preserved in formalin.
natural history specimen
type specimen