species

English Online Dictionary. What means species‎? What does species mean?

English

Etymology

From Latin speciēs (“appearance; quality”), from speciō (“see”) + -iēs suffix signifying abstract noun. Doublet of spice.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspiːʃiːz/, /ˈspiːsiːz/. Some speakers pronounce the singular with /-ɪz/, the plural with /-iːz/.
• Rhymes: -iːʃiːz, -iːsiːz

Noun

species (countable and uncountable, plural species or (rare, nonstandard) specieses)

1. Type or kind. (Compare race.)
   1. A group of plants or animals in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction, usually having similar appearance.
   2. (biology, taxonomy) A category in the classification of organisms, ranking below genus; a taxon at that rank.
   3. (chemistry, physics) A particular type of atom, molecule, ion or other particle.
   4. (mineralogy) A mineral with a unique chemical formula whose crystals belong to a unique crystallographic system.
2. An image, an appearance, a spectacle.
   1. (obsolete) The image of something cast on a surface, or reflected from a surface, or refracted through a lens or telescope; a reflection.

   2. Visible or perceptible presentation; appearance; something perceived.
3. (Christianity) Either of the two elements of the Eucharist after they have been consecrated.
4. Coin, or coined silver, gold, or other metal, used as a circulating medium; specie.
5. A component part of compound medicine; a simple.

Usage notes

• Species is singular and plural (like sheep, for example). Specie is a separate word that means coin money.
• When species cooccurs with the possessive morpheme -', it is generally still pronounced /ˈspiːʃiːz/ ~ /ˈspiːsiːz/, not */ˈspiːʃiːzɪz/ ~ /ˈspiːsiːzɪz/.
• (biology, taxonomy): See species name, binomial nomenclature.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• race
• (taxonomy, rank):
  • domain
  • kingdom
  • phylum/division
  • class
  • order
  • family
  • genus
  • superspecies
  • species
    • subspecies, form
    • (botany, horticulture): variety, cultivar

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “species”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

Noun

species

1. plural of specie

Dutch

Pronunciation

Noun

species

1. plural of specie

Synonyms

• speciën

Latin

Etymology

From speciō (“to see”) +‎ -iēs.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈspɛ.ki.eːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈspɛː.t͡ʃi.es]

Noun

speciēs f (genitive speciēī); fifth declension

1. seeing, view, look
2. spectacle, sight

   Synonym: faciēs

3. external appearance, looks; general outline or shape

   Synonyms: habitus, fōrma, frōns, faciēs

4. semblance, pretence, pretense, pretext, outward show (per + genitive)

   Synonym: obtentus
5. show, display
6. point of view, perspective
7. (figuratively) vision, dream, apparition
8. (figuratively) honor, reputation
9. (figuratively) a kind, quality, type
10. (law, later) a special case

Declension

Fifth-declension noun.

In Classical Latin including that of Cicero, inflections of fōrma are used to substitute for the genitive plural and dative and ablative plural.

Later on a full paradigm became acceptable:

Fifth-declension noun.

Derived terms

• speciātim
• speciōsus

Descendants

References

• “species”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “species”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "species", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
• Dizionario Latino, Olivetti