Definition of "species"

Type or kind. (Compare race.)  quotations

1. A group of plants or animals in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction, usually having similar appearance.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Louise felt raised above her species; a voice had spoken within her inmost soul, whose revealings were vouchsafed but to the chosen few; and what had been indifference, was now disdain.

     1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), page 103

   • We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water.

     2012 January, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 70

   • Westerlund News Reporter Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani reached out recently to her viewers with a wartime plea for unity and cooperation among all galactic species.UPDATEDHer sincerity touched extranet viewers and donations for war relief efforts are pouring in, both to the Alliance and its alien allies.

     2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, PC, scene: War Assets: Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani

2. (biology, taxonomy) A category in the classification of organisms, ranking below genus; a taxon at that rank.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Hence, in determining whether a form should be ranked as a species or a variety, the opinion of naturalists having sound judgment and wide experience seems the only guide to follow.

     1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […]

   • Firstly, I continue to base most species treatments on personally collected material, rather than on herbarium plants.

     1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, page vii

   • Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.

     2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3

3. (chemistry, physics) A particular type of atom, molecule, ion or other particle.  examples

4. (mineralogy) A mineral with a unique chemical formula whose crystals belong to a unique crystallographic system.  examples

An image, an appearance, a spectacle.

1. (obsolete) The image of something cast on a surface, or reflected from a surface, or refracted through a lens or telescope; a reflection.

2. Visible or perceptible presentation; appearance; something perceived.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Wit, […] the faculty of imagination in the writer, which searches over all the memory for the species or ideas of those things which it designs to represent.

     1668, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, M. DC. LXVI. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], (please specify the stanza number)

   • the species of the letters illuminated with indigo and violet

     1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […]

(Christianity) Either of the two elements of the Eucharist after they have been consecrated.  examples

Coin, or coined silver, gold, or other metal, used as a circulating medium; specie.  quotations  examples

A component part of compound medicine; a simple.  examples

plural of specie  examples