species English · revision 2775

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1398, Trevisa|origins=la speciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈspiː.ʃiːz/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|speciēs|t=appearance, form; kind, sort]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|specere|t=to look at, behold]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) from [[ine-pro|*spek-|t=to observe]].^(Etymonline) It is a doublet of [[spice]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A class of individuals or things, in logic: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew's ''De Proprietatibus Rerum'',^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Latin speciēs, “a sight, outward appearance”, had many extended senses, among them “semblance, pretext”, “display, beauty” and “a likeness or statue”.^(Etymonline) In Late Latin logic and law it came to mean a particular case, a class included under a higher class, translating Greek eidos.^(Etymonline) The early English uses included the outward look of something (1559) and an image or reflection,^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) and in theology the visible form of the bread and wine of the Eucharist (1579).^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) This visible form developed into the general notion of a kind or type:^(Cresswell 2021) a distinct kind or sort is from 1561,^(Barnhart 1988) and the biological sense, a group of living things with common characteristics, from 1608.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1398 – a class in logic.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1559 – outward appearance.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1561 – a kind or sort.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1579 – the elements of the Eucharist.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1608 – a biological species.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(biology)'' A basic category of [[classification]], below a [[genus]], of related organisms able to [[interbreed]]; an organism of such a group.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A kind, sort or variety: ''a species of humour''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # ''(logic)'' A class of individuals with common characteristics, included in a wider class.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(theology)'' The visible form of the bread or wine in the [[Eucharist]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[conspecific]]

+ * [[ecospecies]]

+ * [[interspecies]]

+ * [[intraspecies]]

+ * [[speciation]]

+ * [[speciesism]]

+ * [[specific]]

+ * [[subspecies]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[specie]]

+ * [[specious]]

+ * [[spectacle]]

+ * [[spectacular]]

+ * [[speculate]]

+ * [[speculation]]

+ * [[speculative]]

+ * [[speculator]]

+ * [[spice]]

+ * [[special]]

+ * [[specimen]]

+ * [[spy]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The singular and plural are both ''species'', while ''specie'' is a different word, meaning coined money.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}