| Specific 1. (a.) Of or pertaining to a species; characterizing or constituting a species; possessing the peculiar property or properties Of a thing which constitute its species, and distinguish it from other things; as, the specific form Of an animal or a plant; the specific qualities Of a drug; the specific distinction between virtue and vice. 2. (a.) Specifying; definite, or making definite; limited; precise; discriminating; as, a specific statement. 3. (a.) Exerting a peculiar influence over any part of the body; preventing or curing disease by a peculiar adaptation, and not on general principles; as, quinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria. 4. (n.) A specific remedy. See Specific, a., 3. 5. (a.) Anything having peculiar adaptation to the purpose to which it is applied. Thesaurus Entries absolute, aid, alterative, analeptic, assistance, balm, balsam, categorical, certain, characteristic, circumscribed, circumscript, classificational, classificatory, clean-cut, clear-cut, concrete, corrective, cure, defined, defining, definite, definitive, delimited, demarcated, denominative, detailed, determinate, determined, different, differential, distinct, distinctive, distinguished, divisional, divisionary, encircled, esoteric, especial, established, exact, exceptional, explicit, express, extraordinary, finicky, fixed, full, fussy, healing agent, healing quality, hedged about, help, indicated, individual, inner, intimate, limited, meticulous, minute, nice, noteworthy, ordinal, particular, peculiar, personal, picayune, precise, predetermined, prescription, private, proper to, receipt, recipe, relief, remedial measure, remedy, reserved, respective, restorative, restricted, set, several, singular, solipsistic, sovereign remedy, special, specialized, specific remedy, specified, stated, subdivisional, succor, sui generis, surrounded, taxonomic, the concrete, the individual, the particular, the special, the specific, the unique, typal, typical, unambiguous, unequivocal, well-defined |