different between specific vs express

English

Alternative forms

• specifick (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French specifique, from Late Latin specificus (“specific, particular”), from Latin speci?s (“kind”) + faci? (“make”).

Pronunciation

• (General American, UK) IPA^(key): /sp??s?f.?k/, /sp??s?f.?k/
• Rhymes: -?f?k
• Hyphenation: spe?cif?ic

Adjective

specific (comparative more specific, superlative most specific)

1. explicit or definite
2. (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.

3. (taxonomy) pertaining to a taxon at the rank of species
4. special, distinctive or unique
5. intended for, or applying to, a particular thing
6. Serving to identify a particular thing (often a disease or condition), with little risk of mistaking something else for it.

   a highly specific test, specific and nonspecific symptoms

7. being a remedy for a particular disease

   Quinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria.
8. (immunology) limited to a particular antibody or antigen
9. (physics) of a value divided by mass (e.g. specific orbital energy)
10. (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)
11. (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)

Synonyms

• (explicit, definite): express, monosemous, unambiguous; see also Thesaurus:explicit
• (special, distinctive or unique): singular; see also Thesaurus:unique
• (intended for a particular thing): peculiar, singular; see also Thesaurus:specific

Antonyms

• unspecific, nonspecific
• (intended for a particular thing): broad, general, generic, universal; see also Thesaurus:generic

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• generic

Noun

specific (plural specifics)

1. A distinguishing attribute or quality.
2. A remedy for a specific disease or condition.
   • 1968, Charles Portis, True Grit:

     I had no unreasonable fear of bats, […] yet I knew them too for carriers of the dread “Hydrophobia,” for which there was no specific.

3. Specification
4. (in the plural) The details; particulars.

Further reading

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

Romanian

Etymology

From French spécifique.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spe?t??i.fik/

Adjective

specific m or n (feminine singular specific?, masculine plural specifici, feminine and neuter plural specifice)

1. specific

   Antonym: nespecific

Declension

Related terms

• specificitate

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /?k?sp??s/ IPA^(key): /?k.?sp??s/
• Rhymes: -?s

Etymology 1

From French exprès, from Latin expressus, past participle of exprimere (see Etymology 2, below).

Adjective

express (comparative more express, superlative most express)

1. (not comparable) Moving or operating quickly, as a train not making local stops.
2. (comparable) Specific or precise; directly and distinctly stated; not merely implied.

   I gave him express instructions not to begin until I arrived, but he ignored me.

   This book cannot be copied without the express permission of the publisher.

3. Truly depicted; exactly resembling.

   In my eyes it bore a livelier image of the spirit, it seemed more express and single, than the imperfect and divided countenance.
4. (postpositive, retail) Providing a more limited but presumably faster service than a full or complete dealer of the same kind or type.

   The Pizza Hut inside Target isn't a full one: it's a Pizza Hut Express.

   Some Wal-Mart stores will include a McDonald's Express.

   The mall's selection of cell phone carriers includes a full AT&T store and a T-Mobile express.

Synonyms

• (of a train): fast, crack
• (directly and distinctly stated; not merely implied): explicit, plain; see also Thesaurus:explicit

Antonyms

• (directly and distinctly stated; not merely implied): implied

Translations

Noun

express (plural expresses)

1. A mode of transportation, often a train, that travels quickly or directly.
2. A service that allows mail or money to be sent rapidly from one destination to another.
3. An express rifle.
   • 1885, H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines

     "Give me my express," I said, laying down the Winchester, and he handed it to me cocked.

4. (obsolete) A clear image or representation; an expression; a plain declaration.
   • a. 1667, Jeremy Taylor, Clerus Domini, or, A discourse of the divine institution, necessity, sacredness, and separation of the office ministerial together with the nature and manner of its power and operation

     the only remanent express of Christ's sacrifice on earth

5. A messenger sent on a special errand; a courier.
6. An express office.
   • 1873, Edward Everett Hale, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

     She charged him […] to ask at the express if anything came up from town.

7. That which is sent by an express messenger or message.

Synonyms

• (of a train): fast train

Antonyms

• (of a train): local, stopper

Translations

Etymology 2

From Old French espresser, expresser, from frequentative form of Latin exprimere.

Verb

express (third-person singular simple present expresses, present participle expressing, simple past and past participle expressed)

2. (transitive) To convey or communicate; to make known or explicit.

3. (transitive) To press, squeeze out (especially said of milk).
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, chapter 13

     The people of his island of Rokovoko, it seems, at their wedding feasts express the fragrant water of young cocoanuts into a large stained calabash like a punchbowl [...].

   • 2018, Kelsey Munroe, The Guardian, 15 March:

     They don’t have teats, so the mothers express their milk onto their bellies for their young to feed.

4. (biochemistry) To translate messenger RNA into protein.
5. (biochemistry) To transcribe deoxyribonucleic acid into messenger RNA.
   • 2015, Ferris Jabr, How Humans Ended Up With Freakishly Huge Brains, Wired:

     When a cell “expresses” a gene, it translates the DNA first into a signature messenger RNA (mRNA) sequence and subsequently into a chain of amino acids that forms a protein.

Synonyms

• outspeak, utter

Derived terms

• expressed
• expressedly
• express oneself

Related terms

• expressible
• expressibly
• expression
• expressive
• expressively
• expressly

Translations

Noun

express (plural expresses)

1. (obsolete) The action of conveying some idea using words or actions; communication, expression.
   • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, V.20:

     Whereby they discoursed in silence, and were intuitively understood from the theory of their expresses.

2. (obsolete) A specific statement or instruction.
   • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, II.5:

     This Gentleman [...] caused a man to go down no less than a hundred fathom, with express to take notice whether it were hard or soft in the place where it groweth.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English express, from Old French expres, from Latin expressus

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k.sp??s/
• Homophone: expresse

Adjective

express (invariable)

1. express, rapide

Derived terms

Noun

express m (plural express)

1. express train or service