[spe.cies] n, pl species [ME, fr. L, appearance, kind, species, fr. specere to look--more at spy] (14c) 1 a: kind, sort b: a class of individuals having common attributes and designated by a common name; specif: a logical division of a genus or more comprehensive class c: the human race: human beings--often used with the "survival of the ~ 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
[2]species adj (1899): belonging to a biological species as distinguished from a horticultural variety "a ~ rose"