particular

comparative more particular · superlative most particular · also non-comparable · alternative obsolete perticular

1. obsoletePertaining only to a part of something; partial.
2. Specific; discrete; concrete.

   I couldn't find the particular model you asked for, but I hope this one will do.

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   We knew it was named after John Smith, but nobody knows which particular John Smith.

   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

   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]

   Synonyms: concrete, discrete, individual, peculiar, proper, singular, specific · Antonyms: general

3. Specialised; characteristic of a specific person or thing.

   I don't appreciate your particular brand of cynicism.

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   wheresoever one plant draweth such a particular juice out of the earth

   1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Gardens”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC

   Synonyms: optimized, specialistic

4. obsoleteKnown only to an individual person or group; confidential.

   or these domesticke and particular broiles, Are not the question heere.

   c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]

5. Distinguished in some way; special (often in negative constructions).

   He brought no particular news.

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   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.

   She was the particular belle of the party.

   Particular tension is documented among researchers in the AIDS Program Laboratory of the Center for Infectious Disease

   1986 February 15, Elizabeth Pincus, “The CDC: When Politics & Egos Hamper Saving Lives”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 39, page 1

6. comparableOf a person, concerned with, or attentive to, details; fastidious.

   These women are more particular about their appearance.

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   He is very particular about his food and if it isn't cooked to perfection he will send it back.

   There is a scraper as well as a mat, and Mrs. Challenger is most particular.

   1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed

   Synonyms: minute, precise, fastidious, anal-retentive, choosy, conscientious, dainty, exacting

7. Concerned with, or attentive to, details; minute; circumstantial; precise.

   a full and particular account of an accident

   Synonyms: accurate, careful, surgical, comprehensive, solicitous, conscientious, exhaustive, fastidious

8. lawContaining a part only; limited.

   a particular estate, or one precedent to an estate in remainder

9. lawHolding a particular estate.

   a particular tenant

   1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC

10. human sciencesForming 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".

plural particulars · alternative obsolete perticular

1. A small individual part of something larger; a detail, a point.First known use 15th c.

   I did not omit even our Sports and Paſtimes, or any other Particular which I thought might redound to the Honour of my Country.

   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

2. obsoleteA person's own individual case.First known use 16th–19th c.

   temporal blessings, whether such as concern the public[…]or such as concern our particular

   1658, Henry Hammond, Whole Duty of Man

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   Since philosophy could never find any way for tranquillity that might be generally good, let every man in his particular seeke for it.

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 16, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

3. pluralhuman sciencesA particular case; an individual thing as opposed to a whole class. (Opposed to generals, universals.)First known use 17th c.

   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.

   1912, Bertrand Russel, The Problems of Philosophy, Chapter 9