Etymologically
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specify

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈspɛs.ɪ.faɪ/[1]
  • US: /ˈspɛs.əˌfaɪ/[1]

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or give an account of a matter in detail, with of: a1393, in John Gower's Confessio Amantis; this intransitive use is obsolete.[2][12] In the same poem Gower also used it transitively, to name something explicitly.[2] Etymonline dates the intransitive sense "to speak, make plain" to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

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.