English

Alternative forms

• specifick (obsolete)

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

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• generic

Noun

specific ‎(plural specifics)

1. A distinguishing attribute or quality.
2. A specific remedy.
   • 1968, Charles Portis, True Grit:

     I had no unreasonable fear of bats, […] yet I knew them too for carriers of the dread “Hydrophobia,” for which there was no specific.

3. Specification
4. (in the plural) The details; particulars.

Derived terms

• specificker

Romanian

Etymology

French spécifique

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [speˈt͡ʃi.fik]

Adjective

specific m, n ‎(feminine singular specifică, masculine plural specifici, feminine and neuter plural specifice)

1. specific

Declension

Antonyms

• nespecific