spécifique

Forms

spécifique (plural spécifiques)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin specificus (“specific, proper to a species, constituting a species”), which the TLFi takes from specificō (“to specify”).^[2][3] Littré analyses it as Latin speciēs (“kind, species”) and faciō (“to make”).^[4] According to Rey, the Late Latin adjective dates from the early 6th century;^[5] French borrowed it once in the 13th century and again in Middle French, about 1380.^[5] The dates of the borrowing differ: the TLFi gives the end of the 14th century, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert 1402, and Bloch and Wartburg 1503.^[2][3][6][7]

The verb spécifier comes from the Late Latin verb, and spécification from Medieval Latin.^[7][8] Picoche places the word in the family of Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to contemplate, observe”), with espèce and spécial.^[8] The English word specific (1630s) comes from the French word and directly from Late Latin.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in the Latin–French glossary Aalma at the end of the 14th century, in the sense “belonging especially to something”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From 1503 the adjective was used of what belongs to a species, or to one kind of thing, and to it alone;^[5][10] by 1534 it was also used of what belongs to one particular thing.^[5] In the sciences it kept the idea of “species”: gravité spécifique appears in physics in 1691, followed by pesanteur spécifique, chaleur spécifique (1836) and poids spécifique (1845).^[5][2] In medicine remède spécifique (1674, in a letter of Madame de Sévigné) is a remedy for one particular disease, and un spécifique (1694) the remedy itself.^[2][5] Buffon applied the word to animal and plant species in 1770, and nom spécifique named the word added to a generic name to mark each species.^[2][5]

In the classical period it also meant “precise, definite”, recorded from Retz (1651 in the TLFi, 1655 in the DHLF) and now obsolete.^[2][5] Maladie spécifique was used from 1862 for syphilis, and spécifique meant “syphilitic”, uses that have gone out of use;^[2][5] the phrase later came to mean a disease with a well-established cause, and microbe spécifique (1890) a germ that causes a single disease.^[5][2] Droits spécifiques (1866) are customs duties based on the nature or quantity of the goods.^[2][5]

Timeline

• Late 14th century – Recorded in the Aalma glossary.^[2]
• 1503 – Used of what belongs to a species.^[10][7]
• 1516 – Miroir historial uses it for “having the character of a species”.^[2]
• 1534 – Used of what belongs to a particular thing.^[5]
• 1630s – English borrows it as specific.^[9]
• 1651 – Retz uses it for “precise, definite”.^[2]
• 1674 – Remède spécifique in a letter of Madame de Sévigné.^[2]
• 1691 – Gravité spécifique in physics.^[2][5]
• 1694 – The Académie records the noun “specific remedy”.^[2][11]
• 1770 – Buffon uses nom spécifique.^[2]
• 1832 – The derivative spécificité appears.^[5]
• 1862 – Maladie spécifique is used for syphilis.^[2][5]
• 1866 – Droits spécifiques in customs.^[2]
• 1890 – Microbe spécifique “germ causing a single disease”.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (formal) Belonging to one species and to it alone, as opposed to générique: nom spécifique, différence spécifique.^[6][12]
2. Belonging to one thing and to it alone, characteristic, as in l'odeur spécifique de la cire.^[6][13][2]
3. Having its own character and laws, not reducible to something else.^[6]
4. (physics) Relating to the unit of mass, as in chaleur spécifique, formerly also weight per unit of volume, as in poids spécifique.^[6][4]
5. (medicine) Of a remedy, proper to cure one particular disease, of a germ, causing one disease only: remède spécifique, microbe spécifique.^[6][12]
6. (customs) Of duties, calculated on the physical quantity of the goods, as opposed to ad valorem: droits spécifiques.^[6][13]
7. (chemistry) Of a reaction, characteristic of one substance.^[6]

Noun

1. A specific, a remedy for one particular disease, as in ce sirop est un spécifique contre la toux.^[1][14][5]

Word family

• spécifiquement
• spécificité

Related words

• espèce
• spécifier
• spécification
• spécial
• Latin speciēs
• English specific

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
13. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
14. ^ Académie française (1835), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 6th ed., Paris: Firmin-Didot