# specie

Pronunciation: US say "SPEE-shee" /ˈspiːʃi/; UK

## Noun

1. Money in the form of coins made from precious metal that has intrinsic value.
   - Simple: Coins made from valuable metal like gold or silver, used as money.
   - _The treaty required payment in specie rather than banknotes._
   - _Merchants preferred specie, since the metal itself held value regardless of any government's promise._
2. Kind or type; chiefly in the phrase 'in specie,' meaning in the actual form or thing itself rather than in its monetary equivalent.
   - Simple: Kind or type, found in the phrase 'in specie,' meaning in the real thing rather than cash.
   - _The court ordered restitution in specie, requiring return of the original painting rather than its appraised value._
   - _Trustees may transfer assets in specie when selling them would trigger unnecessary tax._
3. Singular of species. Proscribed: standard usage treats species as both singular and plural. *(nonstandard)* — singular of species
   - Simple: Singular of species. Many people think this form is wrong. Most writers use species for one kind too.
   - _A caller to the radio show asked what specie of bird was nesting in her gutter._
   - _On the gardening forum, someone asked which specie of fern grows best indoors._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2** — The word began in the phrase 'in specie', taken from Latin 'speciē', the ablative singular of 'species'. It may be compared to the phrase 'in kind'.
**Meaning 3** — This is a back-formation from 'species' (a plural), where the final 's' was mistakenly understood as a plural ending.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/specie (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).