SPECIES


Meaning of SPECIES in English

I. ˈspē-(ˌ)shēz, -(ˌ)sēz noun

( plural species )

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin, appearance, kind, species, from specere to look — more at spy

Date: 14th century

1.

a. : kind , sort

b. : a class of individuals having common attributes and designated by a common name ; specifically : a logical division of a genus or more comprehensive class

confessing sins in species and in number

c. : the human race : human beings — often used with the

survival of the species in the nuclear age

d.

(1) : a category of biological classification ranking immediately below the genus or subgenus, comprising related organisms or populations potentially capable of interbreeding, and being designated by a binomial that consists of the name of a genus followed by a Latin or latinized uncapitalized noun or adjective agreeing grammatically with the genus name

(2) : an individual or kind belonging to a biological species

e. : a particular kind of atomic nucleus, atom, molecule, or ion

2. : the consecrated eucharistic elements of the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Eucharist

3.

a. : a mental image ; also : a sensible object

b. : an object of thought correlative with a natural object

II. adjective

Date: 1899

: belonging to a biological species as distinguished from a horticultural variety

a species rose

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.