specific

§English

§Alternative forms

• specifick (obsolete)

§Etymology

From Old French specifique, from Late Latin specificus (“specific, particular”), from Latin speciēs (“kind”) + faciō (“make”).

§Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /spəˈsɪf.ɪk/, /spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪfɪk

§Adjective

specific (comparative more specific, superlative most specific)

1. explicit or definite
2. (sciences) Pertaining to a species.
   • 2008, Richard Dawkins, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, Oxford 2009, p. 3:

     Science and literature, then, are the two achievements of Homo sapiens that most convincingly justify the specific name.

3. (taxonomy) pertaining to a taxon at the rank of species
4. special, distinctive or unique
5. intended for, or applying to a particular thing
6. being a remedy for a particular disease

   Quinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria.

   • Coleridge

     In fact, all medicines will be found specific in the perfection of the science.

7. (immunology) limited to a particular antibody or antigen
8. (physics) of a value divided by mass (e.g. specific orbital energy)
9. (physics) similarly referring to a value divided by any measure which acts to standardize it (e.g. thrust specific fuel consumption, referring to fuel consumption divided by thrust)
10. (physics) a measure compared with a standard reference value by division, to produce a ratio without unit or dimension (e.g. specific refractive index is a pure number, and is relative to that of air)

§Antonyms

• all-purpose
• broad
• general
• general-purpose
• generic
• gross
• nonspecific
• overall
• pandemic
• universal
• unspecific
• widespread

§Derived terms

Derived terms

company-specific conspecific gender-specific infraspecific interspecific intraspecific nonspecific prostate-specific antigen

species-specific specific charge specific energy specific epithet specific fuel consumption specific gravity specific heat specific impulse

specific name specific performance specific power specific resistance specific thrust specificity specificker

§Translations

explicit or definite

• Catalan: específic m
• Czech: konkrétní (cs)
• Esperanto: specifa
• Estonian: kindel (et)
• Finnish: erityinen (fi)

• Greek: συγκεκριμένος (el) (synkekriménos)
• Latin: specialis m, f
• Portuguese: específico (pt)
• Romanian: specific (ro)
• Russian: явный (ru) (jávnyj) (obvious, explicit), конкретный (ru) (konkrétnyj) (concrete), специфический (ru) (specifíčeskij)
• Sinhalese: නිශ්චිත (niścita)
• Spanish: específico
• Welsh: penodol (cy)

of, or relating to a species

• Finnish: laji- (fi), lajityyppinen
• Portuguese: específico (pt)

• Russian: видовой (ru) (vidovój)

pertaining to a taxon at the rank of species

• Finnish: laji- (fi)

• Portuguese: específico (pt)

special, distinctive or unique

• Czech: specifický
• Estonian: eriline (et)

• Finnish: erityinen (fi)
• Greek: ειδικός (el) (eidikós)
• Russian: особенный (ru) (osóbennyj), особый (ru) (osóbyj), конкретный (ru) (konkrétnyj)

intended for, or applying to a particular thing

• Czech: specifický
• Estonian: omane

• Finnish: erityinen (fi), erikois- (fi)
• Greek: ειδικός (el) (eidikós), εξειδικευμένος (el) (exeidikevménos)
• Portuguese: específico (pt)
• Russian: специальный (ru) (speciálʹnyj)

being a remedy for a particular disease

• Finnish: spesifinen
• Portuguese: específico (pt)

• Spanish: específico

being limited to a particular antibody or antigen

• Finnish: spesifinen

of a value divided by the mass

• Czech: specifický
• Estonian: eri-

• Finnish: ominais- (fi)
• Georgian: კუთრი (kut’ri)
• Russian: специфический (ru) (specifíčeskij)

of a measure compared to a standard reference

• Czech: relativní

• Finnish: ominais- (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} معين (moʕáyan)
• Catalan: ^{(please verify)} específic
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 特定的 (zh) (tèdìng de)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} specifiek (nl)
• French: ^{(please verify)} spécifique (fr)
• Galician: ^{(please verify)} específico m
• German: ^{(please verify)} spezifisch (de)

• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} sajátos (hu), ^{(please verify)} meghatározott (hu)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} sonrach
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} specifico (it)
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 特殊 (ja) (とくしゅ, tokushu)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 특정한 (teukjeonghan)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} specifik (sv)

§See also

• generic

§Noun

specific (plural specifics)

1. A distinguishing attribute or quality.
2. Something particularly adapted for a particular use, as a remedy for a particular disorder
3. Specification
4. (in the plural) The details; particulars.

§Derived terms

• specificker

§External links

• specific in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• specific in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• specific at OneLook Dictionary Search

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§Romanian

§Etymology

French spécifique

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [speˈt͡ʃi.fik]

§Adjective

specific ^{4 nom/acc forms}

1. specific

§Declension

declension of specific

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	specific		specifică	specifici	specifice
	definite	specificul		specifica	specificii	specificele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	specific		specifice	specifici	specifice
	definite	specificului		specificei	specificilor	specificelor

§Antonyms

• nespecific