specify
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈspɛs.ɪ.faɪ/
ipa: /ˈspɛs.əˌfaɪ/
Forms: form: specifies
form: specifying
form: specified
form: specified
Etymology: From Middle English specifien, from Old French specifier, especefier, or directly from Medieval Latin specificō, from specificus (“specific”).
Senses: examples: text: I was nevere somouned, ne never hadde tydynges of this matier but by seyd lettres and other fleying tales that I heve herd sithen, ne nevere hadde to do more with the seyd John Wortes than is specified in the seyd instruccion.
ref: 1425 November 5, William Paston, edited by James Gairdner, Paston Letters, new edition, volume I, London: Edward Arber, published 1872, page 20:
text: Thanne after came A riall ordenaunce, / Too myghty princes with a grete pusaunce, / ffro Masedeyn and owt of Arkadye, / Ther cowde no man the nowmber specifie.
ref: c. 1440, William Aldis Wright, editor, Generydes (in Middle English), London: N. Trübner & Co., published 1878, lines 1950–3, page 63:
english: Then, after a royal ordinance, two mighty princes came and brought a great host of men from Macedonia and Arcadia, so many that no one could specify the number.
translation: Then, after a royal ordinance, two mighty princes came and brought a great host of men from Macedonia and Arcadia, so many that no one could specify the number.
bold_translation_offsets: 141
148
text: But there is no need of specifying particulars in this class of uses. The catalogue is endless, and the examples so obvious, that I shall leave them to the reader’s reflection, with the general remark, that this mercenary benefit is one which has respect to a farther good. A man is fed, not that he may be fed, but that he may work.
ref: 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Commodity”, in Nature, Boston: James Monroe and Company, page 18:
glosses: To state explicitly, or in detail, or as a condition.
examples: text: It seems to me that whoever at the Department of Transport or the train operating companies, or both, is specifying the standard of seats these days has taken leave of their senses and opted for cheapness over comfort.
ref: 2023 July 26, Pip Dunn, “Merseyrail '777s' are OK for passengers”, in RAIL, number 988, page 60:
glosses: To include in a specification.
glosses: To bring about a specific result.
examples: text: Forthermar o þis lecheri / Agh i þe noght to specifie[…]
ref: c. 1300, Richard Morris, editor, Cursor Mundi [Runner of the World], volume I (in Middle English), London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., published 1893, lines 27958–9, page 1548:
english: I will not speak explicitly about this lechery any further.
translation: I will not speak explicitly about this lechery any further.
bold_translation_offsets: 11
27
glosses: To speak explicitly or in detail (often used with of).
Synonyms: word: explicitize
word: disambiguate
word: call
word: call out
word: clarify
word: clear up
word: get something straight
word: name
word: narrow down
word: nominate
word: particularize
word: singularize
word: specialize
word: specificate
Hyponyms: word: cut to the chase
word: get to the point
word: stipulate
word: home in on
word: zero in on
word: overspecify
word: respecify
word: underspecify
Derived terms: above-specified
Related terms: word: specifiable
word: specific
word: specification
word: come to