Etymologically
Log in

specification

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌspesɪfɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/, /ˌspesəfɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/[1]
  • US: /ˌspesɪfəˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/, /ˌspesəfəˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin specificātiō, "assignment to a species; precise statement",[2][3][4][5] a noun of action formed on the past participle of specificō (“to mention particularly, specify”),[2][4][6] the source of specify.[2] The verb comes from specificus (“specific”),[4][6] itself from speciēs (“kind, appearance”).[4] Klein thinks the word probably came through spécification,[7] and Johnson (1755) gave both the English adjective and the French word as its sources;[8] the OED compares the French noun (1341) and specificazione (1330).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A specific detail or item, especially in a document: 1447, in the Paston Letters, according to the revised OED of 2024.[2] Other dictionaries date the word later: Merriam-Webster to 1615, Etymonline to the 1610s and the Shorter Oxford to the late 16th century.[3][4][9]

Semantic evolution

From about 1554 the word meant an explicit or detailed statement of something.[2] Etymonline's first sense, "the act of investing something with a particular quality", is from 1615,[2][4][3] and an obsolete sense "specific character or nature" lasted from 1608 to 1710.[2] Roman and Scots law used it from 1651 for the making of new property out of material belonging to another,[2][3] a sense the OED notes was not found in French until 1685.[2] The modern sense, a detailed description of the design and materials of something to be made, is recorded from 1717,[2] and the patent document describing an invention from 1730;[2] Etymonline dates the technical sense to 1833, originally in patent law.[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "distinct notation" and "particular mention".[8] Kantian logic used it from 1825 for making a notion more definite,[2] and the short form spec is found by 1956.[4]

Timeline

  • 1447 – a specified detail or item.[2]
  • c. 1554 – an explicit, detailed statement.[2]
  • 1615 – the act of giving something a specific quality.[2][3]
  • 1651 – (Roman and Scots law) making new property from another's material.[2]
  • 1717 – a detailed plan of something to be made.[2]
  • 1730 – a patent description.[2]
  • 1956 – the short form spec.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A detailed description of the design, materials, measurements and standards required for something to be made or done, often in the plural: The engine was built to the airline's specifications.
  2. The act of specifying; a precise statement or naming of something.
  3. (patent law) A written description of an invention, submitted with an application for a patent.
  4. (Roman and Scots law) The making of new property by working material that belongs to someone else.

Word family

  • nonspecification
  • prespecification
  • respecification

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press