Separate vs Specific - What's the difference?
separate | specific |
Apart from (the rest); not connected to or attached to (anything else).
Not together (with); not united (to).
To divide (a thing) into separate parts.
To disunite something from one thing; To disconnect.
* Dryden
* Bible, Romans viii. 35
To cause (things or people) to be separate.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
, volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To divide itself into separate pieces or substances.
(obsolete) To set apart; to select from among others, as for a special use or service.
* Bible, Acts xiii. 2
(usually, in the plural) Anything that is sold by itself, especially an article of clothing.
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
* Coleridge
(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)
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.
As adjectives the difference between separate and specific
is that separate is apart from (the rest); not connected to or attached to (anything else) while specific is explicit or definite.As nouns the difference between separate and specific
is that separate is anything that is sold by itself, especially an article of clothing while specific is a distinguishing attribute or quality.As a verb separate
is to divide (a thing) into separate parts.separate
English
Adjective
(-)- This chair can be disassembled into five separate pieces.
- I try to keep my personal life separate from work.
Verb
(separat)- From the fine gold I separate the alloy.
- Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Fantasy of navigation, passage=It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […]; […]; or perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment.}}
- Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
Derived terms
* separable * separately * separation * separational * separationism * separationistAntonyms
* annex * combineSee also
* disunite * disconnect * divide * split * reduce * subtractNoun
(en noun)Usage notes
* The spelling is (separate). *(term) is a common misspelling.specific
English
Alternative forms
* specifick (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)- Quinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria.
- In fact, all medicines will be found specific in the perfection of the science.