particular
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /pəˈtɪk.jʊ.lə/
note: non-rhotic
ipa: /pəˈtɪk.jə.lə/
note: rhotic
ipa: /pɚˈtɪk.jə.lɚ/
ipa: /pɑrˈtɪk.jə.lɚ/
note: US, Canada, rhotic, r-dissimilation
ipa: /pəˈtɪk.jə.lɚ/
note: Indic
ipa: /pə(r)ˈʈɪk(j)ʊlə(r)/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈpɑ(r)ʈɪk(j)ʊlə(r)/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈpɜ(r)-/
rhymes: -ɪkjʊlə(ɹ)
Forms: form: more particular
form: most particular
form: non-comparable
form: perticular
Etymology: From Middle English particuler, from Anglo-Norman particuler, Middle French particuler, particulier, from Late Latin particularis (“partial; separate, individual”), from Latin particula (“(small) part”). Equivalent to particle + -ar. Compare particle.
Senses: glosses: Pertaining only to a part of something; partial.
examples: text: I couldn't find the particular model you asked for, but I hope this one will do.
text: We knew it was named after John Smith, but nobody knows which particular John Smith.
text: I could a tale unfold whose lightest word / Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, / Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, / Thy knotted and combined locks to part / And each particular hair to stand on end
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:
synonyms: word: concrete
word: discrete
word: individual
word: particular
word: peculiar
word: proper
word: singular
word: specific
antonyms: general
glosses: Specific; discrete; concrete.
examples: text: I don't appreciate your particular brand of cynicism.
text: wheresoever one plant draweth such a particular juice out of the earth
ref: 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Gardens”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
synonyms: optimized
specialistic
glosses: Specialised; characteristic of a specific person or thing.
examples: text: or these domesticke and particular broiles, Are not the question heere.
ref: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
glosses: Known only to an individual person or group; confidential.
examples: text: My five favorite places are, in no particular order, New York, Chicago, Paris, San Francisco and London.
text: I didn't have any particular interest in the book.
text: He brought no particular news.
text: She was the particular belle of the party.
glosses: Distinguished in some way; special (often in negative constructions).
examples: text: He is very particular about his food and if it isn't cooked to perfection he will send it back.
text: These women are more particular about their appearance.
text: There is a scraper as well as a mat, and Mrs. Challenger is most particular.
ref: 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed:
synonyms: word: minute
word: precise
word: fastidious
word: anal-retentive
word: choosy
word: conscientious
word: dainty
word: exacting
word: fastidious
word: finical
word: finicking
word: finickity
word: finicky
word: finikin
word: fussy
word: hypercritical
word: lily-handed
word: meticulous
word: niggly
word: nitpickish
word: nit-picky
word: nitty
word: overcritical
word: overscrupulous
word: particular
word: pedantic
word: pernickety
word: persnickety
word: picky
glosses: Of a person, concerned with, or attentive to, details; fastidious.
examples: text: a full and particular account of an accident
synonyms: word: accurate
word: careful
word: comprehensive
word: conscientious
word: exhaustive
word: fastidious
word: groundly
word: in-depth
word: intensive
word: letter-perfect
word: mindful
word: minute
word: particular
word: polished
word: precise
word: painstaking
word: punctilious
word: rigorous
word: root and branch
word: scrupulous
word: scrutinous
word: sedulous
word: strict
word: thorough
word: tight
glosses: Concerned with, or attentive to, details; minute; circumstantial; precise.
examples: text: a particular estate, or one precedent to an estate in remainder
topics: law
glosses: Containing a part only; limited.
examples: text: a particular tenant
ref: 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
topics: law
glosses: Holding a particular estate.
examples: text: a particular proposition, opposed to "universal", e.g. (particular affirmative) "Some men are wise"; (particular negative) "Some men are not wise".
topics: human-sciences
logic
mathematics
philosophy
sciences
glosses: Forming a part of a genus; relatively limited in extension; affirmed or denied of a part of a subject.
Derived terms: antiparticularism
antiparticularist
monoparticular
nanoparticular
nonparticular
overparticular
particularisation
particularism
particularist
particularity
particularization
particularize
particularly
particularness
unparticular
Related terms: word: in particular
word: particular average
word: particular Church
word: particular integral
word: particulars