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Current vs Specific - What's the difference?

current | specific |

As nouns the difference between current and specific

is that current is the part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction while specific is a distinguishing attribute or quality.

As adjectives the difference between current and specific

is that current is existing or occurring at the moment while specific is explicit or definite.

current

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction.
  • (electricity) The time rate of flow of electric charge.
  • :* Symbol': '''''I (inclined upper case letter "I")
  • :* Units:
  • :: SI: ampere (A)
  • :: CGS: esu/second (esu/s)
  • A tendency or a course of events.
  • Synonyms

    * (part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction ): flow, stream * (time rate of flow of electric charge ): electric current * (tendency or course of events ): flow, stream, tendency

    Derived terms

    * undercurrent

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Existing or occurring at the moment.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Timothy Garton Ash)
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli , passage=Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.}}
  • Generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment.
  • * Arbuthnot
  • That there was current money in Abraham's time is past doubt.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= T time , passage=The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them
  • (obsolete) Running or moving rapidly.
  • * Gower
  • Like the current fire, that renneth / Upon a cord.
  • * Tennyson
  • To chase a creature that was current then / In these wild woods, the hart with golden horns.

    Synonyms

    * (existing or occurring at the moment ): present * (generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment ): fashionable, prevailing, prevalent, rife, up-to-date

    Antonyms

    * (existing or occurring at the moment ): future, past * (generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment ): out-of-date, unfashionable

    specific

    English

    Alternative forms

    * specifick (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • explicit or definite
  • (sciences) Pertaining to a species.
  • *2008 , (Richard Dawkins), The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing , Oxford 2009, p. 3:
  • *:Science and literature, then, are the two achievements of Homo sapiens that most convincingly justify the specific name.
  • (taxonomy) pertaining to a taxon at the rank of species
  • special, distinctive or unique
  • intended for, or applying to a particular thing
  • being a remedy for a particular disease
  • Quinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria.
  • * Coleridge
  • In fact, all medicines will be found specific in the perfection of the science.
  • (immunology) limited to a particular antibody or antigen
  • (physics) of a value divided by mass (e.g. specific orbital energy)
  • (physics) similarly referring to a value divided by any measure which acts to standardize it (e.g. thrust specific fuel consumption, referring to fuel consumption divided by thrust)
  • (physics) a measure compared with a standard reference value by division, to produce a ratio without unit or dimension (e.g. specific refractive index is a pure number, and is relative to that of air)
  • Antonyms

    * all-purpose * broad * general * general-purpose * generic * gross * nonspecific * overall * pandemic * universal * unspecific * widespread

    Derived terms

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    See also

    * generic

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A distinguishing attribute or quality.
  • Something particularly adapted for a particular use, as a remedy for a particular disorder
  • Specification
  • (in the plural) The details; particulars.
  • Derived terms

    *