Particulars

How to spell particulars

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce particulars

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does particulars mean?

1. nounThe specific details or itemised facts about a person, event, or matter.

Particulars in a sentence

• The officer wrote down the driver's particulars at the scene.

• Please send your full contact particulars so we can confirm the booking.

Where does particulars come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin particula, a diminutive of pars, meaning 'a part' or 'a portion', so particula literally meant 'a little part'. From particula Latin formed the adjective particularis, meaning 'relating to a single part or detail', which English took in through Old French as 'particular' during the 1300s. Used as a noun in the plural, 'particulars' came to mean the individual small details or specific facts about a matter, the little parts that together make up the whole picture. The same pars root sits inside everyday relatives such as 'part', 'partial', and 'parcel', which can help anchor the spelling. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle and ending: the '-icu-' and the '-ar' both reduce to a soft schwa in speech, so writers must remember the 'i' and the 'ar' rather than the 'er' the ear seems to hear.

How the word is built

• part (a portion)
• -icul- (Latin diminutive -cula: little part)
• -ar (adjective suffix)
• -s (plural noun)