# specific

Pronunciation: say "spuh-SIF-ik" /spəˈsɪf.ɪk/

## Adjective

1. Belonging to, intended for, or applying to one particular person, thing, or group only.
   - Simple: Belonging to or meant for only one particular thing or group.
   - _The software is specific to one operating system._
   - _Each form is specific to a particular department._
2. Clearly defined and exact rather than vague or general.
   - Simple: Clearly stated and exact, not vague or general.
   - _The instructions were specific about which tools to use._
   - _He gave a specific date rather than a vague promise._
4. Relating to a species as a level of biological classification.
   - Simple: Having to do with a single kind of living thing (a species).
   - _The specific epithet follows the genus name in a binomial._
   - _Its specific name, sapiens, is Latin for 'wise'._
6. Serving to identify one particular thing, often a disease, with little risk of confusing it with something else.
   - Simple: Able to show one particular thing, often an illness, with little chance of a mistake.
   - _A highly specific test rarely flags healthy people as sick._
   - _Doctors look for a specific marker that points only to that condition._
7. Limited in action to a particular antibody or antigen.
   - Simple: Working with just one kind of antibody or antigen.
   - _The antibody is specific to a single surface protein on the virus._
   - _Vaccines train the immune system to mount specific responses against one pathogen._
5. In science and engineering, describing a quantity expressed per unit of mass or relative to another standard measure, as in specific heat or specific gravity.
   - Simple: In science, describing an amount measured for each unit of mass, or compared with a standard, as in 'specific heat'.
   - _Engineers compared the specific energy of each battery design._
   - _Specific orbital energy stays constant for an orbit, whatever the satellite's mass._
8. Of a remedy, acting against one particular disease itself, as quinine against malaria, rather than having a general effect or easing symptoms.
   - Simple: Of a medicine, working against one certain illness itself, not just easing how it feels.
   - _A specific treatment targets the infection itself rather than simply reducing the fever it causes._
   - _Unlike the old painkillers, the new drug is a specific treatment that goes after the infection itself._

## Noun

3. A precise detail or particular of a matter, including a stated requirement; usually plural.
   - Simple: The exact facts and details about something.
   - _The report left out the specifics of the budget._
   - _She questioned the specifics of the proposal before the committee voted._
9. A medicine or remedy effective against one particular disease.
   - Simple: A medicine that works against one particular illness.

## Noun

10. A distinguishing attribute or quality that marks one thing off from another. *(rare)*
   - Simple: A quality that makes something different from others.

## Other meanings

- (noun) The distinguishing element of a place name, as opposed to its general descriptive part.

## Origin

Latin speciēs ("kind") plus -ficus ("making") gave Late Latin specificus ("specific, particular"), which passed into French as specifique and then into English.

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