specificus

Forms

specificus (feminine specifica, neuter specificum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin speciēs (“kind, sort”) + -ficus (“making”), “making a kind”.^[1][2][3] It is the source of French spécifique and Italian specifico,^[1][4] and partly through French of English specific.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Boethius uses it in his commentary on Porphyry, in the sense “of the species”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In scholastic philosophy it described what makes a thing a distinct species, as in differentia specifica, “the specific difference”;^[5][6] Thomas Aquinas uses it as a synonym of speciālis.^[5][6] British writers from Grosseteste and Roger Bacon to Ockham use it for what constitutes a species, and also for what belongs to a particular individual.^[6] Etymonline glosses the Late Latin word “constituting a kind or sort” and the Medieval Latin one “specific, particular”.^[2]

Timeline

• 870 – Latham records it in British sources.^[3]
• c. 1238 – Robert Grosseteste uses it in a letter.^[6]
• first half of the 14th century – Ockham writes of its definition.^[6][3]
• 1630s – English specific appears, from French and Late Latin.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin, philosophy) Of or constituting a species: differentia specifica, the specific difference.^[4][5][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) specific, particular; belonging to a particular individual.^[6][7][1]

Related words

• speciēs
• faciō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
6. ^ a b c d e f g Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson