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)

Adjective

(en adjective)

Characterized by speculation; based on guessing or unfounded opinions.

*

*:"Don't dare laugh at us!" smiled his sister. "I wish we were back in Tenth Street. But so many children cameand the Tenth Street house wasn't half big enough; and a dreadful speculative builder built this house and persuaded Austin to buy it. Oh, dear, and here we are among the rich and great; and the steel kings and copper kings and oil kings and their heirs and dauphins. Do you like the house?"

*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=June 4, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC

, title= England 2-2 Switzerland , passage=Tranquillo Barnetta was the grateful beneficiary of uncertain England defending and poor goalkeeping from Joe Hart as he twice saw speculative free-kicks end in the back of the net in the first half.}}