different between delicate vs particular

English

Etymology

From Middle English delicat, from Latin delicatus (“giving pleasure, delightful, soft, luxurious, delicate, in Medieval Latin also fine, slender”), from delicia, usually in plural deliciae (“pleasure, delight, luxury”), from delicere (“to allure”), from de (“away”) + lacere (“to allure, entice”). Compare Spanish delgado (“thin, skinny”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?l?k?t/

Adjective

delicate (comparative more delicate, superlative most delicate)

1. Easily damaged or requiring careful handling.
2. Characterized by a fine structure or thin lines.

3. Intended for use with fragile items.

4. Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; said of manners, conduct, or feelings.

5. Of weak health; easily sick; unable to endure hardship.
6. (informal) Unwell, especially because of having drunk too much alcohol.

   Please don't speak so loudly: I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning.

7. (obsolete) Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring.
   • circa 1660, John Evelyn (author), William Bray (editor), The Diary of John Evelyn, volume I of II (1901), entry for the 19th of August in 1641, page 29:

     Haerlem is a very delicate town and hath one of the fairest churches of the Gothic design I had ever seen.

8. Pleasing to the senses; refined; adapted to please an elegant or cultivated taste.

9. Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful.
   • circa 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, act II, scene iii, lines 18 and 20–21:

     Cassio:   She’s a most exquisite lady.…Indeed, she’s a most fresh and delicate creature.

10. Light, or softly tinted; said of a colour.

11. Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.
12. Highly discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite.

13. Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes.

Synonyms

• (easily damaged): fragile

Related terms

• delicacy
• delicately
• delicatessen
• delicious
• delight

Translations

Noun

delicate (plural delicates)

1. A delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie.

2. (obsolete) A choice dainty; a delicacy.
3. (obsolete) A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person.

Further reading

• delicate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• delicate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.li?ka.te/

Adjective

delicate

1. feminine plural of delicato

Anagrams

• dateceli

Latin

Adjective

d?lic?te

1. vocative masculine singular of d?lic?tus

References

• delicate in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• delicate in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• delicate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deli?kate/

Adjective

delicate

1. feminine plural nominative of delicat
2. feminine plural accusative of delicat
3. neuter plural nominative of delicat
4. neuter plural accusative of delicat

English

Alternative forms

• perticular (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English particuler, from Anglo-Norman particuler, Middle French particuler, particulier, from Late Latin particularis (“partial; separate, individual”), from Latin particula (“(small) part”). Equivalent to particle +? -ar. Compare particle.

Pronunciation

• (rhotic) IPA^(key): /p??t?kj?l?/
• (non-rhotic) IPA^(key): /p??t?kj?l?/
• (US, rhotic, r-dissimilation) IPA^(key): /p??t?kj?l?/
• Hyphenation: par?tic?u?lar
• Rhymes: -?kj?l?(?)

Adjective

particular (comparative more particular, superlative most particular) (also non-comparable)

1. (obsolete) Pertaining only to a part of something; partial.
2. Specific; discrete; concrete.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:specific

   Antonym: general
3. Specialised; characteristic of a specific person or thing.

   Synonyms: optimized, specialistic

   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Gardens

     wheresoever one plant draweth such a particular juice out of the earth

4. (obsolete) Known only to an individual person or group; confidential.
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, King Lear, V.1:

     or these domesticke and particular broiles, Are not the question heere.

5. Distinguished in some way; special (often in negative constructions).

6. (comparable) Of a person, concerned with, or attentive to, details; fastidious.

   Synonyms: minute, precise, fastidious; see also Thesaurus:fastidious
7. Concerned with, or attentive to, details; minute; circumstantial; precise.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:meticulous

8. (law) Containing a part only; limited.

9. (law) Holding a particular estate.
10. (logic) Forming a part of a genus; relatively limited in extension; affirmed or denied of a part of a subject.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• particular in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Noun

particular (plural particulars)

1. A small individual part of something larger; a detail, a point. [from 15th c.]
2. (obsolete) A person's own individual case. [16th-19th c.]
   • 1658, Henry Hammond, Whole Duty of Man

     temporal blessings, whether such as concern the public […] or such as concern our particular

3. (now philosophy, chiefly in plural) A particular case; an individual thing as opposed to a whole class. (Opposed to generals, universals.) [from 17th c.]

Related terms

• universal
• for one's particular

Translations

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin particularis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /p??.ti.ku?la/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /p?r.ti.ku?la/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /pa?.ti.ku?la?/

Adjective

particular (masculine and feminine plural particulars)

1. private
2. particular

Derived terms

• particularment

Related terms

• partícula
• particularitat

Further reading

• “particular” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “particular” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “particular” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “particular” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin particul?ris, corresponding to partícula +? -ar.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /p??.ti.ku.?la?/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /pa?.?t??i.ku.?la?/, [p??.?t??i.k?.?l?ä?]
• Hyphenation: par?ti?cu?lar

Adjective

particular m or f (plural particulares, comparable)

1. private (concerning, accessible or belonging to an individual person or group)
2. private (not belonging to the government)

   Synonym: privado

   Antonym: público

3. particular; specific

   Synonym: específico

4. particular; distinguished; exceptional

   Synonym: excepcional

Inflection

Derived terms

• em particular

Related terms

• partícula

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin particul?ris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pa?tiku?la?/, [pa?.t?i.ku?la?]

Adjective

particular (plural particulares)

1. specific, particular

   Synonyms: concreto, específico

2. peculiar, strange

   Synonyms: raro, extraño

3. personal

   Synonym: íntimo

4. private

   Synonym: privado

Related terms

• partícula

Noun

particular m (plural particulares)

1. individual, private citizen

Further reading

• “particular” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.