[go: up one dir, main page]
Wiktionary

particular

English

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

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

edit

Adjective

edit

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
    I couldn't find the particular model you asked for, but I hope this one will do.
    We knew it was named after John Smith, but nobody knows which particular John Smith.
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:
      I could a tale unfold whose lightest word / Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, / Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, / Thy knotted and combined locks to part / And each particular hair to stand on end
  3. Specialised; characteristic of a specific person or thing.
    Synonyms: optimized, specialistic
    I don't appreciate your particular brand of cynicism.
    • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Gardens”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
      wheresoever one plant draweth such a particular juice out of the earth
  4. (obsolete) Known only to an individual person or group; confidential.
  5. Distinguished in some way; special (often in negative constructions).
    My five favorite places are, in no particular order, New York, Chicago, Paris, San Francisco and London.
    I didn't have any particular interest in the book.
    He brought no particular news.
    She was the particular belle of the party.
  6. (comparable) Of a person, concerned with, or attentive to, details; fastidious.
    Synonyms: minute, precise, fastidious; see also Thesaurus:fastidious
    He is very particular about his food and if it isn't cooked to perfection he will send it back.
    These women are more particular about their appearance.
    • 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed‎[1]:
      There is a scraper as well as a mat, and Mrs. Challenger is most particular.
  7. Concerned with, or attentive to, details; minute; circumstantial; precise.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:meticulous
    a full and particular account of an accident
  8. (law) Containing a part only; limited.
    a particular estate, or one precedent to an estate in remainder
  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.
    a particular proposition, opposed to "universal", e.g. (particular affirmative) "Some men are wise"; (particular negative) "Some men are not wise".

Derived terms

edit
edit

Translations

edit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Further reading

edit

Noun

edit

particular (plural particulars)

  1. A small individual part of something larger; a detail, a point. [from 15th c.]
    • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “Several Contrivances of the Author to Please the King and Queen. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag), page 259:
      I did not omit even our Sports and Paſtimes, or any other Particular which I thought might redound to the Honour of my Country.
  2. (obsolete) A person's own individual case. [16th–19th c.]
  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.]
    • 1912, Bertrand Russel, The Problems of Philosophy, Chapter 9:
      When we examine common words, we find that, broadly speaking, proper names stand for particulars, while other substantives, adjectives, prepositions, and verbs stand for universals.

Derived terms

edit
edit

Translations

edit

Catalan

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Latin particulāris.

Pronunciation

edit

Adjective

edit

particular m or f (masculine and feminine plural particulars)

  1. private
  2. particular

Derived terms

edit

Noun

edit

particular m (plural particulars)

  1. individual
  2. subject, matter, issue
edit

Further reading

edit

Old Galician-Portuguese

edit

Etymology

edit

    Learned borrowing from Latin particulāris.

    Pronunciation

    edit
    • IPA(key): /paɾtikuˈlaɾ/
    • Rhymes: -aɾ
    • Hyphenation: par‧ti‧cu‧lar

    Adjective

    edit

    particular m or f (plural particulares)

    1. particular; specific

    Descendants

    edit
    • Fala: particulal
    • Galician: particular
    • Portuguese: particular

    References

    edit

    Portuguese

    edit

    Etymology

    edit
      Etymology tree
      Proto-Indo-European *perh₃-der.?
      Proto-Italic *partis
      Latin pars
      Proto-Indo-European *-lós
      Proto-Italic *-elos
      Latin -ulus
      Latin -culus
      Latin particula
      Proto-Italic *-ālis
      Latin -ālis
      Latin -āris
      Old Galician-Portuguese particular
      Portuguese particular

      Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese particular, borrowed from Latin particulāris, corresponding to partícula +‎ -ar.

      Pronunciation

      edit
       
       

      • Hyphenation: par‧ti‧cu‧lar

      Adjective

      edit

      particular m or f (plural particulares, comparable, comparative mais particular, superlative o mais particular or particularíssimo)

      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

      Derived terms

      edit
      edit

      Descendants

      edit

      Romanian

      edit

      Etymology

      edit

      Borrowed from Latin particularis or German partikular. By surface analysis, particulă +‎ -ar.

      Adjective

      edit

      particular m or n (feminine singular particulară, masculine plural particulari, feminine and neuter plural particulare)

      1. private

      Declension

      edit
      singular plural
      masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
      nominative/
      accusative       		indefinite particular particulară particulari particulare
      definite particularul particulara particularii particularele
      genitive/
      dative       		indefinite particular particulare particulari particulare
      definite particularului particularei particularilor particularelor

      Noun

      edit

      particular m (plural particulari)

      1. private person

      Declension

      edit
      singular plural
      indefinite definite indefinite definite
      nominative-accusative particular particularul particulari particularii
      genitive-dative particular particularului particulari particularilor
      vocative particularule particularilor

      Spanish

      edit

      Etymology

      edit

      Borrowed from Latin particulāris.

      Pronunciation

      edit
      • IPA(key): /paɾtikuˈlaɾ/ [paɾ.t̪i.kuˈlaɾ]
      • Rhymes: -aɾ
      • Syllabification: par‧ti‧cu‧lar

      Adjective

      edit

      particular m or f (masculine and feminine plural particulares)

      1. specific, particular
        Synonyms: concreto, específico
      2. peculiar, strange
        Synonyms: raro, extraño
      3. personal
        Synonym: personal
      4. private
        Synonym: privado

      Derived terms

      edit
      edit

      Noun

      edit

      particular m (plural particulares)

      1. individual, private citizen

      Further reading

      edit
      Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=particular&oldid=82725681"