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Specific vs Typical - What's the difference?

specific | typical |

As adjectives the difference between specific and typical

is that specific is explicit or definite while typical is capturing the overall sense of a thing.

As nouns the difference between specific and typical

is that specific is a distinguishing attribute or quality while typical is anything that is typical, normal, or standard.

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

    *

    typical

    English

    Alternative forms

    * typicall (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Capturing the overall sense of a thing.
  • Characteristically representing something by form, group, idea or type.
  • Normal, average; to be expected.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2006, author=
  • , title=Internal Combustion , chapter=2 citation , passage=One typical Grecian kiln engorged one thousand muleloads of juniper wood in a single burn. Fifty such kilns would devour six thousand metric tons of trees and brush annually.}}

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * atypical

    Derived terms

    * typicality * typically * typicalness

    See also

    * gestalt * gist * resemblance * emblematic * prefigurative * distinctive

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Anything that is typical, normal, or standard.
  • Antipsychotic drugs can be divided into typicals and atypicals.
    Among the moths, typicals were more common than melanics.