specie
(ˈspiːʃɪ, ˈspiːʃiː, ˈspiːʃɪiː)
[a. L. speciē, abl. sing. of speciēs species, orig. adopted in the phr. in speciē (see in). So MDu. and Du., MHG., Da. and Sw. specie.]
I. In the phrase in specie.
1. a. In kind; in respect of kind; specifically.
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 93 b, Pitiusa is iudged to differ in spicie or kynde from the cypresse spourge. 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 66 Being of one and the selfe same kind in specie. 1631 B. Jonson Discoveries (Rtldg.) 764/2 They differ but in specie: either in the kind is absolute. 1672 Boyle Virtues of Gems 119 The..substance..may be of so small specific gravity, as not to make the Gem at all heavier in specie than Crystal it self. 1704 Swift T. Tub iii, A sort of Critick, not distinguisht in specie from the former, but in Growth or Degree. 1743 D. Watson Horace, Sat. etc. II. Dissert. p. xliii, Casaubon therefore is guilty of a palpable Mistake, when he says that the Satires of Lucilius were wholly different in Specie from those of Ennius and Pacuvius. 1802–12 Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) I. 219 The power of the advocate, though in respect of intensity less in degree is in specie the same with the power of the judge. |
† b. In a manner or form properly belonging to a species or class; in respect of species, as opposed to individually. Obs.
| 1620 Wotton in Reliq. (1685) 501 Whether visits of respect..being received in specie, should be paid in individuo. 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. 105 Infants in specie (and not those numerically only) should not be forbidden to come. |
† c. In respect of specific form or manner, as opposed to generally. Obs.
| 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. 302, I know meer circumstances are determined of but in general, and left to humane determination in Specie. 1670 ― Cure Ch. Div. 83 First, as a Papal Catholick Church... Secondly as particular Congregations in specie. |
2. In the real, proper, precise, or actual form; without any kind of substitution. In later use only in Law.
| 1551 Cranmer Lord's Supper (1844) 156 As unto the Jews Jesus Christ was given in figures, so to us he is given in specie, that is to say, in rei veritate, in his very nature. 1659 Baxter Key Cath. ii. iii. 431 It is not a Head, but this Head in specie, that is, the form of the Church, if any such be. a 1683 Sir W. Scroggs Courts-leet (1728) 228, I should have my Things again in Specie, if they may be had. 1760 Gilbert Cases in Law & Equity 400 If the Chattel itself be by the Agreement to be returned in specie, he can only be said to detain it from me unjustly. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 235 The covenant will be decreed to be performed in specie. 1886 Law Rep. 34 Chanc. Div. 139 The widow is..to possess the leaseholds in specie during her lifetime. |
3. † a. In the actual coin specified. Obs.
| 1615 in Birch Crt. & Times Jas. I (1848) I. 370 Having, besides other gold, above seven thousand Jacobus pieces in specie. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 209 To pay a Rose-noble of gold, not only in value, but in specie for their passage. |
† b. Of coin or money: In the actual form of minted pieces of metal. Obs.
| 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 276 In respect of the foresaid difficulties to export coyne In specie, that is in the kinde. 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 477 That the imaginarie moneys..do ouerrule the course and propertie of Reall and Substantiall moneys in specie. 1691 Locke Money Wks. 1727 II. 46 Our Coin.., whether we send it in Specie, or whether we melt it down here to send it in Bullion. 1714 in Somers Tracts II. 114 By which means the ancient Method of paying Money in Specie into the Exchequer hath been much laid aside, and a great Part of the Revenue of the Kingdom received in Bank Notes. |
c. Of sums or amounts: In actual coin; in money. (Cf. 6.)
| 1636–7 in Birch Crt. & Times Chas. I (1848) II. 264 The other third, by the agreement, was to go over to Dunkirk in specie. 1663 Dryden Wild Gallant i. ii, But, besides the land here mentioned, he has wealth in specie. 1713 Guardian No. 120 (1756) 144 All play-debts must be paid in specie, or by an equivalent. 1756 W. Toldervy Hist. 2 Orphans II. 124 That I am poor, is very certain, having in specie only the sum of ten-pence half-penny. 1870 Pall Mall G. 23 Sept. 9/1 With forty first-class cabin passengers and 156,395 dols. in specie. 1871 C. Davies Metric Syst. iii. 113 As the balances..could be paid for only in specie. |
† 4. a. Of goods or commodities: In kind. (See kind n. 15.) Obs.
| 1626 in Birch Crt. & Times Chas. I (1848) I. 131 Nor will the country pay money instead of viands in specie. 1699 Laws Nevis xxiv. (1740) 19 All Masters of Ships..shall pay..One Pound of Pistol Powder (in Specie) for each and every Ton. 1738 Hist. Crt. Excheq. ii. 28 When they did not deliver their Goods in Specie to the King. |
† b. transf. Of requital or repayment: In a similar fashion; with like treatment. Obs.
| 1632 Story Bks. Little Gidding 180 She shall..requite her parents in specie, as Merchants speak, when the payment is made in the self-same Coine. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. ii. 1544 This Worthy, as the World will say, Is paid in Specie, his own way. 1702 Eng. Theophrastus 93 Kindnesses are to be paid in Specie as well as Money. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1792) II. 223 My husband..loved me with passion; and, as I could not pay him in specie, I endeavoured to supply my want of affection..by my attention. |
II. In general use.
† 5. Form. in its proper specie, = sense 2. Obs.
| 1644 Doc. Lett. Pat. at Oxf. (1837) 123 The Moneyes..to be of the same specie, weight, and goodnesse as his Majestys Moneys in the Tower of London. 1698 in Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 543 That everything you have taken by virtue of the warrant of Replevin, be forth coming in its proper specie. |
6. Coin; coined money. (Cf. 3 c.) † Also, a commodity serving as a means of exchange or trade.
| 1671 in 9th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. II. 13/2 Unpurged brown [sugar], being the specie of the country [Barbadoes], pays for the exports from the kingdom. 1710 Acc. Dist. T. Whigg ii. 19 A Bung-Cart..laden with Specie and Exchequer Bills. 1749 Smollett Gil Blas x. x, I sometimes kissed the specie, and contemplated the different pieces with..rapture. 1794 Mann in Lett. Literary Men (Camden) 440 They have plundered the Nation..and consequently must possess an immense quantity of specie. 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. iii. xiii. §1 (1876) 329 Up to this point the effects of a paper currency are substantially the same, whether it be convertible into specie or not. 1864 Bowen Logic ix. 274 Money may mean either specie, or bank-notes, or currency consisting of a mixture of these two. |
| fig. 1709 Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1736) I. 219 He saw Promises were no longer Specie, or would any more pass current with Zara. 1806 H. Siddons Maid, Wife, & Widow I. 241 Affection is a current coin: every other specie is an infamous alloy. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 107 All of whose wits were about him, current, and redeemable in the specie of action. |
7. † a. A subordinate division. Obs.
| 1670 Moxon Pract. Perspective 1 This Specie of Perspective is many times (alone) called the Opticks. 1750 Beawes Lex. Mercat. (1752) 6 The laws [of trade]..which are long since become a Specie of the law of nations. |
b. Species; kind. Now Obs. exc. as erron. sing. of species n. 10.
| 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4874/4 To prepare a List of each respective Specie [of bills] which they intend to Subscribe. 1738 [G. Smith] Cur. Relat. II. 558 Such Men who are Plagues to their own Specie. 1747 W. Horsley Fool (1748) II. 141 Our Hero made Divinities, though of a peculiar Specie. 1800 C. Sturt in Naval Chron. IV. 396 A very large specie of gull. 1810 Splendid Follies III. 193 Such is the specie of game after which Nettletop is now in search. 1858 in Bartlett Dict. Amer. (1859) 432 The size of the trap,..and the nature of the bait, depends upon the specie of the animal hunted for. 1974 A. Scott-James Sissinghurst vi. 74 There are..thickets of specie roses in many odd corners. 1974 Country Life 25 Apr. 1033/2 (Advt.), We specialise in Roses (specie & old-fashioned). 1980 Daily Tel. 22 Jan. 11/2 Castrated rats and other animals live longer than normal creatures of the specie. 1980 Pan Am Clipper Oct. 48/1 Is he [sc. man] descended directly from apes, or is he a specie that evolved from an entirely new..branch of the primate tree? |
8. attrib. (in sense 6), as specie † (bank)-bill, † specie bank-note, † specie book, specie issue, † specie note, specie parcel, specie payment, specie value; specie jar, a large glass or china jar formerly used for storage in chemists' shops and now used only for display; specie point = gold point s.v. gold1 10; specie-room, a strong-room on a ship in which gold coin was deposited.
| 1696 Lond. Gaz. No. 3242/4 A Specie Bank Note for 300 l. payable to John Norton. 1697 Ibid. No. 3361/4 A Specie Bank-Bill..for 100 l. payable to Jonathan Tabor. 1697 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) IV. 267 They will allow no other interest on specie notes then 2d. per day per cent. 1700 G. Brown (title), Specie Book, serving to turne any number of pieces of Silver to pounds Scots or Sterling. 1786 R. King Life & Corr. (1894) I. 5 Reducing the price of the article..by the scale of its specie value. 1808 Edinb. Rev. II. 107 To recommend the perpetual stoppage of specie-issues at the Bank. 1845 M{supc}Culloch Taxation ii. xi. (1852) 382 The resolution to revert to specie payments at the old standard. 1861 G. J. Goschen Theory Foreign Exchanges iv. 50 There would have existed a certain competition..to buy at a heavy discount, much below specie point, in order subsequently to realize at least the specie value. 1884 Illustr. Lond. News 11 Oct. 342/1 Daily conveyance of ordinary and specie parcels. 1891 Scribner's Mag. Nov. 603/2 In these days of heavy gold shipments, the specie-room on the steamship is a very important institution. 1914 N. & Q. 14 Feb. 127/1 The well-known ‘specie jars’ of chemists' shops. a 1929 R. Bedford in Murdoch & Drake-Brockman Austral. Short Stories (1951) 100 I'll bring dynamite..and blow the specie-room open..and haul out the gold-boxes. 1929 C. J. S. Thompson Myst. Apothecary xix. 257 The large cylindrical vessels called ‘specie jars’, with metal or gilded lids, that still decorate some of the chemists' shop-windows. 1966 A. Gilpin Dict. Econ. Terms 190 Specie points or Gold points, the extreme points of variation in a rate of exchange under the gold standard. |