particular

Forms

particular m or f (masculine and feminine plural particulares)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin particulāris (“of a part, partial; particular”).^[2][1][3] The Latin adjective, a post-classical word, is formed of particula (“small part”) and the suffix -āris.^[4][1] The noun is a diminutive of pars (“part”).^[5]

The same Latin diminutive was borrowed as partícula in 1433.^[5] The Latin adjective was also borrowed as Portuguese particular in the 15th century.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first record is the Judizios de las estrellas (1254–1260), part of Alfonso X's prose: las propriedades & los estados particulares & proprios “the particular and proper properties and states”, in the sense “proper or peculiar to something”.^[7][8] Alfonso X's Picatrix (1256) speaks of the almas particulares, the individual souls, as opposed to the universal soul.^[8] Corominas and Segura Munguía date the word only to 1433.^[5][9]

Semantic evolution

The Diccionario de Autoridades gives the senses “proper to something”, “special, extraordinary” and “singular, as opposed to universal”.^[10] The Academy's 1817 edition adds a person without title or office, a private performance by actors, and the noun “matter in hand”, as in hablemos de este particular.^[11] The use of un particular as a noun for a private person was criticised: Domínguez complained in 1846 that the Academy left out this everyday sense, and Baralt called it a Gallicism already admitted, noting that the older language used the adjective with a noun (hombre particular, persona particular).^[12][13] The Academy noted the noun use from 1884.^[14]

Today the word also means private, not public (clases particulares, coche particular), and of an act, done unofficially by a person who holds an office.^[2][15] The DLE now marks the theatrical sense as obsolete.^[2]

Timeline

• 1254–1260 – first recorded, in the Judizios de las estrellas.^[7]
• 1256 – almas particulares “individual souls” in the Picatrix.^[8]
• 1433 – the date of first record in Corominas.^[5]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin particularis.^[16]
• 1527 – an early record from the Americas, in Nicaragua: así de oficiales como de particulares “both of officials and of private persons”.^[17]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records three senses of the adjective.^[10]
• 1817 – the Academy records the noun “matter in hand” and the phrase en particular.^[11]
• 1855 – Baralt calls un particular “a private person” a Gallicism.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Proper or peculiar to something, belonging to it alone: Cada región tiene su cocina particular.^[2][1]
2. special, unusual or rarely seen of its kind.^[2][1]
3. Individual or particular, as opposed to universal or general.^[2][1]
4. Of a person: holding no title or official post; also as a noun.^[2]
5. private, not publicly owned or used: Tiene un chófer particular.^[2][1]
6. Of an act: unofficial or private, though done by a person who holds a public office.^[2]

Noun

1. A private individual, a person without an official post.^[2][1]
2. The point or matter under discussion.^[2]
3. (obsolete) A private performance of a play.^[2]

Word family

• particularismo
• particularista
• particularizar
• particularmente
• particularidad

Related words

• partícula
• parte
• parcial
• participar
• Latin particulāris

Usage notes

En particular means “in particular, especially”, and sin otro particular, a formula at the end of letters, “with nothing more to add”.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. particular
3. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. particular
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. parte
6. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2487
7. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. particular
8. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. particular
9. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 542
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 139
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 642
12. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1337
13. ^ a b Baralt, Rafael María (1855), Diccionario de galicismos, Madrid: Imprenta de J. Cruzado, p. 498
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 794
15. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. particular
16. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 393
17. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. particular