species Latin · revision 2741

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 280–200 BC, Livius Andronicus|origins=ine-pro *speḱ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈspɛ.ki.eːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈspɛː.t͡ʃi.es]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''speciēs''' ''f'' (genitive speciēī); fifth declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The genitive singular ''speciēī'' is not found in texts, and the genitive and dative plural were not used in Cicero's day, [[forma|alt=fōrmae]] serving instead, while ''specierum'' and ''speciebus'' appear in late writers.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|speciō|-iēs|t1=to look at]], a noun of the fifth declension formed on the verb of seeing,^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Gaffiot 2016) which goes back to [[ine-pro|*speḱ-|t=to observe]].^(Etymonline)^(Köbler 2010) Lewis and Short and Georges give the same derivation.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) The development from “look, appearance” to “kind, sort” has parallels in Slavic, where words for a kind are formed on the verb “to see”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Livius Andronicus uses it of a welcome sight that gladdens the eyes,^(OLD 2012) and Köbler dates it from Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) who praises a woman of lovely [[m|en|appearance]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From a sight or spectacle and the act of looking it came to mean the visual appearance of a thing, and so good looks or beauty, splendour or display, and the outward appearance as opposed to inner reality, hence a semblance or a pretext (''per speciem'', under the pretence of).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Concretely it was a figure or image, especially a statue, and a vision seen in a dream or a mental picture.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Philosophers used it for the Platonic idea, as Cicero says, and for a subdivision of a [[m|en|genus]], a kind or sort, the sense in which [[m|en|species]] entered English logic in the late 14th century.^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline) Lawyers used it for a specific case and for a specific item of property.^(OLD 2012) In Late and Medieval Latin the plural meant goods, wares and in particular spices and drugs, and the word also meant a valuable object or a substance;^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010)^(Etymonline) from this plural, through Old French ''espice'', comes English [[m|en|spice]] (c. 1200), a doublet of ''species''.^(Etymonline) New Latin uses the plural for a blend of herbs for tea.^(Wiktionary) The Romance languages keep both strands, French ''espèce'' and ''épice'', Italian ''specie'' and ''spezie''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 280–200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it of a sight.^(OLD 2012)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of appearance and beauty.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the act of looking and of the surface films given off by objects.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a statue and of a subdivision of a kind.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero renders Plato's idea as ''species'' and opposes species to genus.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of a specific legal case.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1200 – [[en|spice|alt=Spice]] is borrowed into English from the Late Latin plural.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – [[en|species|alt=Species]] enters English as a term of logic.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sight, a spectacle; the act of looking.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Visual [[m|en|appearance]], look; beauty.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Splendour, show, display.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Outward appearance as opposed to reality; a semblance; a pretext.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A figure, an image, a statue.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A vision, an apparition; a mental picture.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A kind or sort, a subdivision of a [[m|en|genus]]; specific character.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(law)'' A specific case; a specific item of property.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' The Platonic idea, an archetype.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Late and Medieval Latin, usually plural)'' Goods, wares; [[m|en|spice|alt=spices]], drugs, medicines; a valuable object; a substance.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(New Latin, plural)'' A blend of herbs for tea.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[speciālis]]

+ * [[speciaria]]

+ * [[speciātim]]

+ * [[speciatus]]

+ * [[speciōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[speciō]]

+ * [[en|species]]

+ * [[en|spice]]

+ * [[en|special]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes [[figura|alt=figūra]], shape in its mathematical outline, [[forma|alt=fōrma]], shape as the visible stamp of an inner substance, and ''species'', the outside as opposed to the invisible substance it covers.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}