Etymologically
Log in

specie

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 20:18. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈspɛ.t͡ʃe/[1]

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

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