specific /spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/adjective 10noun 5forms 3 adjective10 •clear about the exact details, not general •[in compounds] 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 •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. •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). •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 •Being a remedy for a particular disease on a deeper level, rather than just masking the symptoms.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. noun5 •Specification. •[in the plural] The details; particulars. •A distinguishing attribute or quality. •A remedy for a specific disease or condition.I had no unreasonable fear of bats, […] yet I knew them too for carriers of the dread “Hydrophobia,” for which there was no specific. — 1968 •The distinguishing part of a toponym.With the exception of names of pan-Canadian significance and some alternate forms approved by provincial authorities, the specific is not translated. — 2024 formsspecifics · more specific · most specific
