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specification

[spes-uh-fi-key-shuhn]

Origin

noun

Usually, specifications. a detailed description or assessment of requirements, dimensions, materials, etc., as of a proposed building, machine, bridge, etc.

a particular item, aspect, calculation, etc., in such a description.

something specified, as in a bill of particulars; a specified particular, item, or article.

an act of making specific.

EXPAND

the state of having a specific character.

COLLAPSE

Origin:
1605–15; < Medieval Latin specificātiōn- (stem of specificātiō), equivalent to specificāt(us) (past participle of specificāre to mention, describe; see specific, -ate¹) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms

non·spec·i·fi·ca·tion, noun

pre·spec·i·fi·ca·tion, noun

re·spec·i·fi·ca·tion, noun

su·per·spec·i·fi·ca·tion, noun

Synonyms
4. requirement, condition, qualification.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Specification has a plethora of syllables.

So is floccinaucinihilipilification. Does it mean:

the estimation of something as valueless (encountered mainly as an example of one of the longest words in the English language).

opposition to the withdrawal of state support or recognition from an established church, esp. the Anglican Church in 19th-century England.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

specification (ˌspɛsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən)

—n
1.	the act or an instance of specifying
2.	(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 & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

specification

1615, "act of investing with some quality," from M.L. specificationem (nom. specificatio), from L. species "kind, sort" (see species) + -ficus, unstressed comb. form of facere "to make, do." Meaning "technical particular" is attested from 1833; short form spec first attested 1956

FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

specification definition

jargon
(spec) A document describing how some system should work.
(2001-02-06)

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innuendo spec specify

Matching Quote

"Predictions usually deal with events—who will win an election, whether or not a country will go to war, the specification of a new invention; they center on decisions. Yet such predictions, while possible, cannot be formalized, i.e. made subject to rules. The prediction of events is inherently difficult. Events are the intersect of social vectors (interests, forces, pressures, and the like). While one can to some extent assess the strength of these vectors individually, one would need a "social physics" to predict the exact crosspoints where decisions and forces combine.... Forecasting is possible where there are regularities and recurrences of phenomena (these are rare), of where there are persisting trends whose direction, if not exact trajectory, can be plotted with statistical time-series or be formulated as historical tendencies. Necessarily, therefore, one deals with probabili ties and an array of possible projections. But the limitations of forecasting are also evident. The further one reaches ahead in time with a set of forecasts, the greater the margin for error, since the fan of the projections widens."

-Daniel Bell

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