specific English · revision 3303

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1631, Donne|origins=la speciēs, la facere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /spəˈsɪf.ɪk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|spécifique]] and directly [[bor|la-lat|specificus|t=constituting a kind or sort]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) in Medieval Latin “specific, particular”,^(Etymonline) [[af|la|speciēs|-ficus|t1=kind, sort|t2=making, doing]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) from the combining form of [[m|la|facere|t=to make]].^(Etymonline) The earlier English form was specifical, from the early 15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “Having a special determining quality”: before 1631, in Donne's poems,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) or the 1630s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word began in the language of logic and natural history, of what constitutes a species or kind,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and of qualities peculiar to a thing, from about 1650.^(OED 1989) In medicine a remedy was specific when it acted on one particular disease, from 1677,^(OED 1989) and the noun ''specific'', such a remedy, is from 1661, in John Evelyn's ''Fumifugium''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The everyday sense “definite, precise, explicit” is from 1740.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The noun for a particular detail, as in ''the specifics of the case'', is from 1697^(Barnhart 1988) or the 1690s.^(Etymonline) ''Specific gravity'' is from 1666, in Robert Boyle.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1631 – having a special quality.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1661 – noun, a specific remedy.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1666 – ''specific gravity''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1677 – of remedies, acting on one disease.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1697 – noun, a detail, particular.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1740 – definite, precise, explicit.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Clearly stated; [[definite]] and [[precise]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Belonging to or [[characteristic]] of a particular thing: ''specific to the region''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(biology)'' Relating to a [[species]].^(AHD)

+ # ''(medicine)'' Acting on a particular [[disease]]: ''a specific remedy''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(physics)'' Of a quantity, expressed per unit of mass or volume: ''specific heat''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(usually plural)'' A particular detail or item.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A remedy for a particular disease.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[specifically]]

+ * [[gender-specific]]

+ * [[prespecific]]

+ * [[stereospecific]]

+ * [[specificity]]

+ * [[prostate-specific antigen]]

+ * [[specific humidity]]

+ * [[specific volume]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[species]]

+ * [[specify]]

+ * [[specification]]

+ * [[special]]

+ * [[specimen]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}