specification
[spes-uh-fi-key-shuhn]
- the act of specifying.
- Usually specifications. a detailed description or assessment of requirements, dimensions, materials, etc., as of a proposed building, machine, bridge, etc.
- a particular item, aspect, calculation, etc., in such a description.
- something specified, as in a bill of particulars; a specified particular, item, or article.
- an act of making specific.
- the state of having a specific character.
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Origin of specification
Synonyms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
specification
- the act or an instance of specifying
- (in patent law) a written statement accompanying an application for a patent that describes the nature of an invention
- a detailed description of the criteria for the constituents, construction, appearance, performance, etc, of a material, apparatus, etc, or of the standard of workmanship required in its manufacture
- an item, detail, etc, specified
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for prespecification
specification
n.
1610s, "act of investing with some quality," from Medieval Latin specificationem (nominative specificatio), from Latin species "kind, sort" (see species) + -ficus, unstressed comb. form of facere "to make, do." Meaning "technical particular" is attested from 1833; short form spec first attested 1956.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper