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Specific vs Subcategorize - What's the difference?

specific | subcategorize |

As an adjective specific

is explicit or definite.

As a noun specific

is a distinguishing attribute or quality.

As a verb subcategorize is

to categorize more specifically by placing in a subcategory.

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

    *

    External links

    * * * ----

    subcategorize

    English

    Verb

    (subcategoriz)
  • To categorize more specifically by placing in a subcategory.
  • (grammar) To practice subcategorization.
  • *
    • As we see from the examples in (55):
    (55) (a)      John will put [NP the car''] [PP ''in the garage'']
    (55) (b)     ?John will put [NP ''the car'']
    (55) (c)     ?John will put [PP ''in the garage'']
    (55) (d)     ?John will put
    the Verb ''put'' subcategorizes (i.e. ‘takes?) obligatory NP and PP complements (to simplify exposition here, we ignore the fact that the subcategorization properties of ''put     may be predictable from its thematic properties, and from general word-order principles such as the STRICT ADJACENCY CONDITION).