specificity

Etymology

It is formed from English specific + -ity,^[2][3][4] although Etymonline allows that it may instead be borrowed from French spécificité.^[3] The OED compares the French noun, recorded of a medicine's specific action from 1832 and of a thing's specific character from 1836.^[2] Specific is from French spécifique and directly specificus (“constituting a kind or sort”),^[3][2] from speciēs (“kind, sort”) and -ficus (“making, doing”), from faciō (“to make”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fact of being specific in character; the quality of being clearly defined or precise: 1830, in the North American Medical and Surgical Journal.^[2][5] Etymonline dates the word to 1829,^[3] Merriam-Webster to 1875^[6] and Dictionary.com to 1875–80.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Much of the word's history lies in medicine and biology.^[2][5] From 1838 it was used of a remedy acting on one particular disease or part of the body;^[2][5] from 1889, in biology, of the restriction of a parasite or pathogen to particular hosts;^[2] from 1893, in immunology, of the ability of an antibody or antiserum to react with one particular antigen;^[2] and since 1905, in biochemistry, of the selective binding of a molecule such as an enzyme to another.^[2] Since 1918 medicine has also used it of a diagnostic test's ability to identify correctly the people who do not have a disease.^[2] The plural specificities, specific details, is recorded from 1870.^[2]

Timeline

• 1830 – the quality of being specific, precise or clearly defined.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to 1829.^[3]
• 1838 – of a medicine, the quality of being specific in its effect.^[2][5]
• 1870 – usually in the plural, a specific detail.^[2]
• 1889 – in biology, the restriction of a parasite or pathogen to a particular host.^[2][5]
• 1893 – in immunology, the ability of an antibody to react with a particular antigen.^[2][5]
• 1905 – in biochemistry, the selective binding of one molecule to another.^[2]
• 1918 – in medicine, the ability of a test to identify those who do not have a disease.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of being specific, precise or clearly defined: The plan was praised for the specificity of its targets.^[6][2]
2. Usually in the plural, a specific detail or circumstance.^[2]
3. The quality of being peculiar to, or restricted to, a particular individual or group of organisms, as of a parasite limited to particular hosts.^[6][2]
4. (immunology) The ability of an antibody or antiserum to recognize and react with a particular antigen.^[2]
5. (biochemistry) The ability of an enzyme or other active molecule to bind selectively to another molecule.^[2]
6. (medicine) The ability of a diagnostic or screening test to identify correctly the people who do not have the condition.^[2]
7. The quality of a medicine of acting specifically on one disease or part of the body.^[2][5]

Word family

• nonspecificity

Related words

• specific
• species
• specify
• special

References

1. ^ 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 t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster