specify
Americanverb (used with object)
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to mention or name specifically or definitely; state in detail.
He did not specify the amount needed.
-
to give a specific character to.
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to set forth as a specification.
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to name or state as a condition.
He specified that he be given my power of attorney.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to refer to or state specifically
-
to state as a condition
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to state or include in the specification of
Other Word Forms
- misspecified adjective
- nonspecified adjective
- prespecify verb (used with object)
- respecify verb
- specificative adjective
- specificatively adverb
- specifier noun
- underspecified adjectiveunderspecified, underspecifying
- underspecify verb (used with object)
- unspecified adjective
- unspecifying adjective
Etymology
Origin of specify
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English specyfyen, from Old French specifier, from Medieval Latin specificāre “to describe, mention particularly,” from specific(us) specific + āre, infinitive verb suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It barred WhatsApp from sharing user data with Meta entities for five years and directed the company to clearly specify the purposes of data sharing in its privacy policy.
From BBC
In 2020, the Department of Homeland Security issued a report that describes the technology in general, but doesn’t specify where it’s being used.
From Los Angeles Times
In nearly all organisms studied so far, every three letter codon either specifies one particular amino acid or signals the end of a protein.
From Science Daily
That email doesn't specify what "matter" he's referring to, but since 2009, Stern, Epstein, and Sarah Ferguson had been engaged in a long and painful wrangle about her acute financial troubles.
From BBC
Court papers don’t specify how Murrin and her then husband came into contact with the accountant — but the man already had a troubled past by that time.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
