Specifically

How to spell specifically

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce specifically

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does specifically mean?

1. adverbIn a precise or particular manner; for a particular purpose or reason rather than a general one.

Specifically in a sentence

• The contract was written specifically to cover overseas shipments.

• She asked specifically for a window seat near the front.

Where does specifically come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin specificus, meaning 'constituting a kind' or 'of a particular sort'. That term was assembled from species, which meant a kind, sort, or appearance, and the combining element -ficus, related to the verb facere, 'to make'. The root species itself grew out of specere, the Latin verb meaning 'to look at' or 'to observe', so the underlying idea is a thing recognised by its visible kind or appearance. The adjective 'specific' entered English in the 1600s through scientific and scholastic Latin, and the adverb 'specifically' followed naturally by adding the familiar -ly ending. The spelling trap lives in the middle: the unstressed schwa after the stressed 'spe-CIF', plus the double 'l' that arrives when -al meets -ly, which is why careful writers pause over 'specifically' rather than the wrong 'specificly'.

How the word is built

• speci- (from species: a kind or sort, ultimately from specere 'to look at')
• -fic (from facere: to make)
• -al (adjective suffix)
• -ly (adverb suffix)