Specific

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /spəˈsɪf.ɪk/, /spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/
• Rhymes: -ɪfɪk

Alternative forms

• specifick

Origin

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

Full definition of specific

Adjective

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 diseaseQuinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria.
• ColeridgeIn 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

Noun

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