specific en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /spɛkˈsi.fɪk/ (Hong-Kong)
- /spəˈsəf.ək/ (New-Zealand)
- /spəˈsɪf.ɪk/ (Australia, Canada, General-American)
- /ˈspɛ.sɪ.fɪk/ (South-Asia)
- /spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/ (Australia, Canada, General-American)
- /spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈspɛs.fɪk/ (South-Asia)
Etymology
From Old French specifique, from Late Latin specificus (“specific, particular”), from Latin speciēs (“kind”) + -ific.
Meanings
-
Explicit or definite.
While some participants, like Gabi and Jasmine, had access to a gym but still felt uncertain about using specific types of equipment, others who trained at home faced even greater challenges due to the absence of both a coach and proper equipment.
2025 August 20, Ashlyn Barry, Justin A. Haegele, Daniel Schaefer, Kristen A. Pickett, Luis Columna, “Autistic Young Adults’ Experiences and Recommendations for Strength Training”, in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, →DOI:
-
Pertaining to a species, as a taxon or taxa at the rank of species.
Science and literature, then, are the two achievements of Homo sapiens that most convincingly justify the specific name.
2008, Richard Dawkins, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, Oxford, published 2009, page 3:Meronyms: infrasubspecific, infraspecific, subspecific
Holonyms: generic, familial
-
(in-compounds, sometimes) Special, distinctive or unique.
A psychologist told WJLA TV that, for the most part, this isn’t a Cocomelon-specific issue. The main issue is too much screen time and children's shows with fast-paced sequences.
2023 April 26, Rayna Skiver, “Actually Bad for Kids? Here’s What Experts Say”, in Green Matters:
- intended for, or applying to, a particular thing.
-
Serving to identify a particular thing (often a disease or condition), with little risk of mistaking something else for it.
specific and nonspecific symptoms
a highly specific test
-
Being a remedy for a particular disease on a deeper level, rather than just masking the symptoms.
The study of specific medicines is too much disregarded now. No doubt, the hunting after specifics is a mark of ignorance and weakness in medicine, yet the neglect of them is proof also of immaturity; for, in fact, all medicines will be found specific in the perfection of science.
1830 May 23, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Constitutional and Functional Life—Hysteria—Hydro-carbonic Gas—Bitters and Tonics—Specific Medicines”, in H[enry] N[elson] C[oleridge], editor, Specimens of the Table Talk of the Late Samuel Taylor Coleridge. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], published 1835, →OCLC, page 147:Quinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria.
Any improvement in secondary sciatica is probably due to the analgesic action of the sodium salicylate, but in primary sciatica, in all likelihood “rheumatic,” the effect of the sodium salicylate appears to be specific rather than symptomatic.
- Limited to a particular antibody or antigen.
- Of a value divided by mass (e.g. specific orbital energy).
- 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).
- 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).
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most specific | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more specific | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| specifick | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic |
Antonyms
broad (antonym(s) of) · general · gross · universal · unspecific · widespread · generic · overall · group-specific antigen · nonspecific · all-purpose · specific gravity bottle · specific activity · pandemic · non-specific · general-purpose
Deriveds
nothospecific · osteospecific · overspecific · serospecific · specific epithet · superspecific · specific fuel consumption · unispecific · trispecific · immunospecific · aspecific · specific density · ultraspecific · specific name · neurospecific · specific charge · phosphospecific · specific power · semispecific · quadrispecific · homospecific · specific risk · antiphosphospecific · cospecific · idiospecific · heterospecific · specific heat capacity · specific humidity · stereospecific · haplospecific · cardiospecific · transspecific · allospecific · domain-specific language · inspecific · ethnospecific · enantiospecific · supraspecific · JVM-specific · specific impulse · xenospecific · specific phobia · geospecific · specificate · underspecific · specific leaf area · panspecific · gender-specific · specific language impairment · specific thrust · specificness · thermospecific · ecospecific · chemospecific · organospecific · specific volume · polyspecific · specificize · isospecific · serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitor · paraspecific · prostate-specific antigen · specificker · plurispecific · biospecific · hepatospecific · specifically · specific weight · specific contract · specific rotation · specific heat · hyperspecific · nanospecific · donor-specific antibody · specific resistance · specificity · specific gravity · bispecific · specific performance · chirospecific · specifical · prespecific · specific energy · regiospecific · extraspecific
Hyponyms
species-specific · osmospecific · culture-specific · JSON-specific · task-specific · array-specific · OS-specific · interspecific · spaceflight-specific · domain-specific · infraspecific · container-specific · topic-specific · browser-specific · client-specific · MySQL-specific · HTTP-specific · gender-specific · problem-specific · platform-specific · conspecific · server-specific · intraspecific · program-specific · CLR-specific · recording-specific · prostate-specific · serotonin-specific · discipline-specific · database-specific · flight-specific · store-specific · Eclipse-specific · company-specific · application-specific
Relateds
Synonyms
singular · concrete · proper · specific · particular · individual · peculiar (intended for a particular thing) · discrete · singular (distinctive or unique) · express (explicit) · monosemous · unambiguous
Translations (111)
pt específico (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · fr spécifique (of, or relating to a species) · ru осо́бенный (special, distinctive or unique) · ja 具体的 (explicit or definite) · es específico (explicit or definite) · ru осо́бый (special, distinctive or unique) · uk особли́вий (special, distinctive or unique) · mi tauwhāiti (special, distinctive or unique) · et eri- (of a value divided by the mass) · fi erityinen (special, distinctive or unique) · it specifico (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · cs specifický (of a value divided by the mass) · fi laji- (pertaining to a taxon at the rank of species) · ru специа́льный (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · ota مخصوص (explicit or definite) · sv specifik (explicit or definite) · pl osobliwy (special, distinctive or unique) · ca específic (of, or relating to a species) · ota خصوصی (explicit or definite) · pl konkretny (explicit or definite) · ru конкре́тный (special, distinctive or unique) · it specifico (being limited to a particular antibody or antigen) · af spesifiek (explicit or definite) · ca específic (being a remedy for a particular disease) · ca específic (special, distinctive or unique) · fi erityinen (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · ml ഒരിനം (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · fi spesifinen (being limited to a particular antibody or antigen) · uk конкре́тний (special, distinctive or unique) · la specialis (explicit or definite) · de spezifisch (explicit or definite) · cs relativní (of a measure compared to a standard reference) · fr spécifique (of a value divided by the mass) · ru удельный (of a value divided by the mass) · pt específico (explicit or definite) · ru конкре́тный (explicit or definite) · mi tautohu (explicit or definite) · uk питомий (of a value divided by the mass) · it specifico (of a value divided by the mass) · cy penodol (explicit or definite) · fi erikois- (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · fi ominais- (of a measure compared to a standard reference) · el εξειδικευμένος (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · hu fajlagos (of a value divided by the mass) · uk конкре́тний (explicit or definite) · ca específic (explicit or definite) · bg осо́бен (special, distinctive or unique) · pl specyficzny (special, distinctive or unique) · bg характе́рен (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · eo specifa (explicit or definite) · kix tīngthì (explicit or definite) · ota مخصوص (special, distinctive or unique) · id spesifik (special, distinctive or unique) · ast específicu (explicit or definite) · et eriline (special, distinctive or unique) · bg специфи́чен (special, distinctive or unique) · si නිශ්චිත (explicit or definite) · cs specifický (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · cs specifický (special, distinctive or unique) · uk видовий (of, or relating to a species) · es específico (being a remedy for a particular disease) · cs konkrétní (explicit or definite) · bo བྱེ་བྲག (explicit or definite) · uk спеціа́льний (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · bg специфи́чен (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · et kindel (explicit or definite) · it particolare (special, distinctive or unique) · fi erityinen (explicit or definite) · pt específico (of, or relating to a species) · gl específico (explicit or definite) · fr spécifique (of a measure compared to a standard reference) · hu specifikus (explicit or definite) · fi ominais- (of a value divided by the mass) · mi tauwhāiti (explicit or definite) · el ειδικός (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · ota خصوصی (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · nl specifiek (explicit or definite) · bg специфичен (of a value divided by the mass) · ca específic (pertaining to a taxon at the rank of species) · ota خصوصی (special, distinctive or unique) · fi spesifinen (being a remedy for a particular disease) · el ειδικός (special, distinctive or unique) · et omane (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · pt específico (being a remedy for a particular disease) · ru видово́й (of, or relating to a species) · hu konkrét (explicit or definite) · ja 特定 (explicit or definite) · ro specific (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · bg специфи́чен (explicit or definite) · ota مخصوص (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · ka კუთრი (of a value divided by the mass) · bg определе́н (explicit or definite) · fi tietty (explicit or definite) · ru я́вный (explicit or definite) · it specifico (explicit or definite) · pt específico (pertaining to a taxon at the rank of species) · fi lajityyppinen (of, or relating to a species) · he מסוים (explicit or definite) · fi laji- (of, or relating to a species) · ru относительный (of a measure compared to a standard reference) · uk специфі́чний (explicit or definite) · it peculiare (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · id spesifik (explicit or definite) · oc especific (explicit or definite) · ro specific (explicit or definite) · ru специфи́ческий (explicit or definite) · el συγκεκριμένος (explicit or definite) · de spezifisch (intended for, or applying to a particular thing) · uk відносний (of a measure compared to a standard reference) · he ספציפי (explicit or definite) · bg ви́дов (of, or relating to a species)