specie

[ spee-shee, -see ]

/ ˈspi ʃi, -si /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR specie ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

coined money; coin.

Nearby words

Idioms

in specie,

in the same kind.
(of money) in coin.
in a similar manner; in kind: Such treachery should be repaid in specie.
Law. in the identical shape, form, etc., as specified.

Origin of specie

1545–55; < Latin (in) speciē (in) kind; see species

Can be confusedspecie species specious

specie

[ spee-shee, -see ]

/ ˈspi ʃi, -si /

noun Nonstandard.

species.

Origin of specie

by back formation, construing species as plural noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for specie

Their baggage and about ten thousand dollars in specie was packed upon mules.
Calendar history of the Kiowa Indians. (1898 N 17 / 1895-1896 (pages 129-444))|James Mooney
The only avoidance of these evident evils is in a rapid transmission of the mails, specie, and passengers.
Ocean Steam Navigation and the Ocean Post|Thomas Rainey
As a marriage dowry he would present us with several barrels of specie, thus showing in what esteem he held me.
Revolutionary Reader|Sophie Lee Foster
What period could be more auspicious for a gradual return, say in six months, to specie?
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 103, May, 1866|Various

It is a litigated question, whether the circulation of paper, rather than of specie, is a good or an evil.
Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson|Thomas Jefferson

British Dictionary definitions for specie

specie

/ (ˈspiːʃiː) /

noun

coin money, as distinguished from bullion or paper money

in specie

(of money) in coin
in kind
law in the actual form specified

Word Origin for specie

C16: from the Latin phrase in speciē in kind

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 specie

specie

1610s, "coin, money in the form of coins" (as opposed to paper money or bullion), from phrase in specie "in the real or actual form" (1550s), from Latin in specie "in kind," ablative of species "kind, form, sort" (see species).