specifical

English

Etymology

From Middle English specificalle, from Latin specificus + -al.

Adjective

specifical (comparative more specifical, superlative most specifical)

1. Synonym of specific
   • 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “I. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

     it is referred to a hidden propriety , a specifical virtue , and a fourth quality

   • 1761, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A discourse upon the origin and foundation of the inequality among mankind, page 36:

     it is not therefore so much the understanding that constitutes, among animals, the specifical distinction of man, as his quality of a free agent.

References

• “specifical”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.