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specify

 
Dictionary: spec·i·fy   (spĕs'ə-fī') pronunciation
tr.v., -fied, -fy·ing, -fies.
  1. To state explicitly or in detail: specified the amount needed.
  2. To include in a specification.
  3. To state as a condition: specified that they be included in the will.
  4. To determine or bring about (a specific result): a gene that specifies the synthesis of a single protein.

[Middle English specifien, from Old French specifier, from Late Latin specificāre, from specificus, specific. See specific.]

specifier spec'i·fi'er n.

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Thesaurus: specify
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verb

  1. To make known or identify, as by signs: denote, designate, indicate, mark, point out, show. See show/hide.
  2. To refer to by name: cite, instance, mention, name. See specific/general.
  3. To make specific: detail, particularize, stipulate. See specific/general.

Antonyms: specify
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v

Definition: designate; decide definitely
Antonyms: generalize


Word Tutor: specify
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: To name exactly.

pronunciation Make sure to specify what kind of wood you will use for the building project.

Wikipedia: Specifier
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In X-bar theory in linguistics, specifiers, head words, and complements together form phrases. Specifiers differ from complements because they are not sisters of the head, but rather sisters of the phrase formed by the head and the complement. In English, some example of specifiers are words such as the, no, some, every, John's and my mother's which can precede Noun phrases. Adverbial phrases can be preceded by degree words such as very, extremely, rather and quite.

These specifiers are so called because they further qualify the category of the head - in these examples nouns and adverbs - in the phrase.

For example:

  • My friend likes [Jane Austen's novels] - Jane Austen's specifies novels in this noun phrase
  • She is [quite certain of success] - quite specifies certain of success in the adverbial phrase quite certain of success

In recent transformational grammar, the term specifier is not normally used to refer to a type of word or phrase, but rather to a structural position provided by X-bar theory or some derivative thereof. In this usage, a phrase (usually a full XP, though in bare phrase structure it could in theory be an intermediate category) is said to occupy the specifier (SpecXP for short) of a head X.

In technical syntax terminology, specifier is the sister of X′ in the X-bar schema of phrase structure seen in the tree diagram below (where XP corresponds to X″):

Xbar.png

Different form classes can occupy a specifier position, typically determiners and possessors in noun phrases (N″), and an auxiliary verb in a verb phrase (V″).



Misspellings: specify
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Common misspelling(s) of specify

  • specif

Translations: Specify
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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - specifisere, beskrive nærmere, angive nærmere, fastsætte

Nederlands (Dutch)
specificeren, preciseren

Français (French)
v. tr. - spécifier, stipuler, préciser (que)

Deutsch (German)
v. - spezifizieren, genau aufführen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - ορίζω ειδικώς ή ρητώς, καθορίζω, προσδιορίζω, προδιαγράφω, κατονομάζω

Italiano (Italian)
specificare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - precisar, especificar

Русский (Russian)
точно определять обусловливать, оговаривать, специально упоминать, придавать особый характер, приводить номинальные или паспортные данные

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - especificar, precisar

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - specificera, räkna upp, noga uppge

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
具体指定, 明确说明, 详细指明, 把...列入说明书

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 具體指定, 明確說明, 詳細指明, 把...列入說明書

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 일일이 이름을 들어 말하다, ~이라는 조건을 붙이다, 명세서에 기입하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 明細に記す, 明細書に記入する, 明記する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) عين, حدد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮פירט, ציין, תיאר, כלל במיפרט‬


 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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