spec·i·fi·ca·tion

(spĕs′ə-fĭ-kā′shən)

1. The act of specifying.

a. specifications A detailed, exact statement of particulars, especially a statement prescribing materials, dimensions, and quality of work for something to be built, installed, or manufactured.

b. A single item or article that has been specified.

3. An exact written description of an invention by an applicant for a patent.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

specification

(ˌspɛsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən)

1. the act or an instance of specifying

2. (Law) (in patent law) a written statement accompanying an application for a patent that describes the nature of an invention

3. 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

4. an item, detail, etc, specified

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

spec•i•fi•ca•tion

(ˌspɛs ə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən)

n.

1. the act of specifying.

2. Usu., specifications. a detailed description of requirements, dimensions, materials, etc., as of a proposed building.

3. something specified, as in a bill of particulars.

4. an act of making specific.

5. the state of having a specific character.

[1605–15]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	specification - a detailed description of design criteria for a piece of work spec description, verbal description - a statement that represents something in words computer architecture - the art of assembling logical elements into a computing device; the specification of the relation between parts of a computer system network architecture - specification of design principles (including data formats and procedures) for creating a network configuration of data processors
	2.	specification - naming explicitly naming - the verbal act of naming; "the part he failed was the naming of state capitals"
	3.	specification - (patent law) a document drawn up by the applicant for a patent of invention that provides an explicit and detailed description of the nature and use of an invention document, papers, written document - writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature) law, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order"
	4.	specification - a restriction that is insisted upon as a condition for an agreement stipulation restriction, confinement - the act of keeping something within specified bounds (by force if necessary); "the restriction of the infection to a focal area"

specification

noun

1. requirement, detail, particular, stipulation, condition, qualification I'd like to have a house built to my specifications.

2. statement, description, definition, setting out, instancing, citing, prescription, identification, itemizing such difficulties as the unclear specification of measures

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

specification

noun

A restricting or modifying element:

condition, provision, proviso, qualification, reservation, stipulation, term (often used in plural).

Informal: string (often used in plural).

Translations

Angabe Spezifikation

προδιαγραφή

spécification

caratteristiche tecniche descrizione dettagliata specificazione

specification

[ˌspesɪfɪˈkeɪʃən] N

1. (= act of specifying) → especificación f

2. (= requirement) → especificación f
the computers are customized to your specification(s) → los ordenadores or (LAm) computadores se diseñan de acuerdo con sus especificaciones >

3. specifications (= plan) → presupuesto m, plan m detallado

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

specification

[ˌspɛsɪfɪˈkeɪʃ^ən]

n (= requirement) → prérequis m specifications

npl [vehicle, building, machine] → spécifications fpl

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

specification

(= specifying) → Angabe f; his ideas need more specification → seine Ideen müssen noch genauer ausgeführt werden

(= detailed statement, of requirements) → genaue Angabe, Aufstellung f; (for patent) → (genaue) Beschreibung; (= design, for car, machine) → (detaillierter) Entwurf; (for building) → Bauplan m; specifications pl → genaue Angaben pl; (of car, machine) → technische Daten or Angaben pl; (of new building) → Raum- und Materialangaben pl, → Baubeschreibung f; the new specification includes … (= model) → die neue Ausführung hat auch …

(= stipulation) → Bedingung f; (for building) → Vorschrift f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

specification

[ˌspɛsɪfɪˈkeɪ/ən] n

a. (gen) → specificazione f

b. specifications (of car, machine) → dati mpl caratteristici; (for building) → dettagli mpl
the parts do not meet our specification → i pezzi non sono conformi alle nostre specifiche

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"I'll do my best to finish the specifications before you return."

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But what would have been thought of that assembly, if, attaching themselves to these general expressions, and disregarding the specifications which ascertain and limit their import, they had exercised an unlimited power of providing for the common defense and general welfare?

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He wore a flannel suit of a gay blue and a straw hat with a coloured ribbon, and he looked upon a world which, his manner seemed to indicate, had been constructed according to his own specifications through a single eyeglass.

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Another time I should be very glad indeed to look through those specifications, but just now I have this affair of my own rather on my mind.

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If anything's down in the specifications surely that is.

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I am no wine-bibber, Bunny, as you know, but I hope you appreciate the specifications as I do.

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The longest list of specifications of benefit would look very short.

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Situation, soil, climate, the nature of the productions, the nature of the government, the genius of the citizens, the degree of information they possess, the state of commerce, of arts, of industry, these circumstances and many more, too complex, minute, or adventitious to admit of a particular specification, occasion differences hardly conceivable in the relative opulence and riches of different countries.

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You've rather got into a habit of that, lately; but perhaps it was for want of a right specification betwixt us.

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So, when the workmen were gone, he sat down, took out his pocket-book, and busied himself with sketching a plan, and making a specification of the expenses that he might show it to Burge the next morning, and set him on persuading the squire to consent.

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Some bees tried the new plan for a while, and found it cost eight times more wax than the old six sided specification; and, as they never allowed a cluster to hang up and make wax in peace, real wax was scarce.

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His board school had taught him to draw up to certain limits, taught him to calculate and understand a specification. If at that point his country had tired of its efforts, and handed him over unfinished to scramble for a living in an atmosphere of advertiseinents and individual enterprise, that was really not his fault.

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