specify

CEFRB1

/ˈspɛs.ɪ.faɪ/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
verb
To state or describe something clearly and exactly.
02
verb
Extra detail
To bring about a specific result.

Examples

He didn't specify when he would return.
Please specify any conditions you have for the use of this information.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

To include in a specification.
To state explicitly, or in detail, or as a condition.
To speak explicitly or in detail (often used with of).

More examples

In context

Remember to specify your size when ordering clothes.
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.
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.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Please blank the exact date for the meeting so we can plan.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

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.
1425 November 5, William Paston, edited by James Gairdner, Paston Letters, new edition, volume I, London: Edward Arber, published 1872, page 20
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.
c. 1440, William Aldis Wright, editor, Generydes (in Middle English), London: N. Trübner & Co., published 1878, lines 1950–3, page 63
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.
1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Commodity”, in Nature, Boston: James Monroe and Company, page 18
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.
2023 July 26, Pip Dunn, “Merseyrail '777s' are OK for passengers”, in RAIL, number 988, page 60
Forthermar o þis lecheri / Agh i þe noght to specifie[…]
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

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Origin

verb

From Middle English specifien, from Old French specifier, especefier, or directly from Medieval Latin specificō, from specificus (“specific”).

Deep Dive

verb

More examples

Related

Quick test

Please blank— the exact date for the meeting so we can plan.

Nearby

Origin

verb

Please blank the exact date for the meeting so we can plan.