specificity — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The state of being specific rather than general.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Congress must set a clear standard: Police should prove with specificity what's on your phone before forcing it open, and only after the device's owner has consulted with a lawyer. Doing so would provide citizens a means to ensure police follow warrant requirements without sacrificing law enforcement's ability to pursue the crime they're investigating.

2. The extent to which a characteristic is specific to a given person, place, or thing; thus: The probability, in a binary classification test, of a true negative being correctly identified.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

   Examples

   Coordinate term: sensitivity

3. The extent to which a characteristic is specific to a given person, place, or thing; thus: The extent to which a particular diagnostic test is specific for, or a symptom or sign is specific to, a given condition.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

Noun

1. the quality of being specific rather than general

   Broader terms

   particularityspecialness

   Examples

   add a desirable note of specificity to the discussion

   the specificity of the symptoms of the disease

2. the quality of being specific to a particular organism

   Broader terms

   particularityspecialness

   Examples

   host specificity of a parasite