specie

Forms

specie f (invariable)^[1] The old form is spezie.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin speciēs (“sight; outward appearance; kind”), from speciō (“to look at”).^[2][4][5][1] The Latin philosophers chose the word to render Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos), so that the Aristotelian pair it formed with γένος (génos) became a Latin pair with genus, the source of genere and of this word in biology.^[4] The same learned word is French espèce and Spanish especie.^[4]

The Latin word also meant “goods, wares”, and in that sense it gave French épice “spice” and Italian spezie, a doublet.^[6][1] Speciazione is a calque on English speciation, a term of evolutionary biology.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Bono Giamboni's Vizi e Virtudi, before 1292, with the sense “image, appearance”.^[2][5] Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, has spezie for a group of things set apart from others of the same kind, and Brunetto Latini for “sort, kind”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante has l'umana spezie for mankind, before 1321, and Fra Giordano uses spezie in the same way.^[2] The theological phrase specie eucaristiche names the bread and wine of the Eucharist.^[5] The adverbial use “especially” is first recorded by Tommaseo–Bellini in 1873.^[2]

In modern use the word names a kind or sort in general, and in biology the basic unit of classification, a group of individuals that can interbreed and have fertile offspring.^[5][4][7] Chemistry uses specie chimica for any chemical entity.^[7][5]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses specie “appearance”.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses spezie for a group of things.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante writes l'umana spezie “mankind”.^[2]
• 1873 – The adverb “especially” is recorded.^[2]
• 1960 – Speciazione is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A kind, sort or type: Che specie di musica ascolti la sera?^[5][8][1]
2. una specie di: something like, a kind of, said when a precise word is lacking or with contempt: Abitava in una specie di capanna.^[5][3]
3. (biology) A species, the basic unit of classification of living things: una specie in via di estinzione.^[5][1][7]
4. (chemistry) A chemical species.^[7][5]

Adverb

1. especially, particularly: Fa freddo, specie la sera.^[5][1][7]

Word family

• sottospecie
• speciazione
• specificare
• specifico
• specificazione

Related words

• cronospecie
• speciale
• specioso
• spezie
• Latin species

Usage notes

The noun is invariable: una specie, molte specie.^[5][1] In specie and nella specie mean “in particular”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d e Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
8. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse