specify

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman specefier, beside Middle French specifier (“to mention or name explicitly”), recorded in French from 1290 (and about 1260 in the form especifier),^[2][3][4] and partly a direct borrowing of its Latin source, Late Latin specificō (“to mention particularly, distinguish”).^[3][2][5][6] The Latin verb was formed on specificus (“specific”),^[2][3][7][8] which Skeat analyses as speciēs (“kind”) with an element from faciō (“to make”).^[9] The OED notes that the Latin verb first meant "to cause or recognize as distinct", translating a Greek term, and is recorded with the sense "to state explicitly or in detail" from the 12th century.^[2] It belongs to the family of specific and species.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To speak or give an account of a matter in detail, with of: a1393, in John Gower's Confessio Amantis; this intransitive use is obsolete.^[2][12] In the same poem Gower also used it transitively, to name something explicitly.^[2] Etymonline dates the intransitive sense "to speak, make plain" to the early 14th century,^[3] Dictionary.com dates the verb to 1250–1300,^[11] and Collins to the 13th century.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The central meaning, to name or state something definitely and explicitly, has been in use since Gower,^[2][12] and Etymonline dates it to the mid 14th century.^[3] Several narrower senses came and went: to make special mention of someone in preaching (?c1450–1525), to show a quality to advantage (?c1550–70), to call by a specific name (1652) and, in John Evelyn's Sylva (1664), to develop into different species.^[2][12] The sense "to give something a specific character" (1645) is now rare.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined the verb as to mention, or to show by particular marks of distinction.^[14] The modern technical sense, to set out a requirement in the specifications for a piece of work or a product, is recorded from 1841, in an architectural book.^[2]

Timeline

• a1393 – to give an account in detail, and to name explicitly, in Gower's Confessio Amantis.^[2]
• c1425 – past participle with above, below and the like, in Lydgate.^[2]
• 1645 – to give something a specific character (now rare).^[2]
• 1664 – to develop into different species (obsolete).^[2]
• 1841 – to include a requirement in a specification.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To name or state something clearly and in detail: The letter did not specify a date for the meeting.
2. To set something down as a condition or requirement: The contract specifies that payment is due within a month.
3. To include something as an item in a specification: The architect specified stone floors for the hall.

Word family

• specifier
• specifiable
• prespecify
• respecify
• underspecify

Related words

• specific
• specification
• species
• special

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.