specificity
/spɛsɪˈfɪsɪti/noun
specificity is spelled S-P-E-C-I-F-I-C-I-T-Y: 11 letters and 5 syllables. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, specificity means “The state of being specific rather than general” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of specificity is specificities.
How many letters and syllables are in specificity?
| Letters | 11: S-P-E-C-I-F-I-C-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is specificity?
Specificity appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce specificity?
- US /spɛsɪˈfɪsɪti/
Specificity has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-specificity.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with specificity?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as specificity from its last stressed vowel (/ɪsɪti/):
- authenticity
- elasticity
- plasticity
- eccentricity
- centricity
- chromaticity
- inauthenticity
- atomicity
- chronicity
- facticity
- benedicite
- rhoticity
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of specificity
- specificities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does specificity mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state of being specific rather than general.
- 2
The probability, in a binary classification test, of a true negative being correctly identified.
Coordinate term: sensitivity
- 3
The extent to which a particular diagnostic test is specific for, or a symptom or sign is specific to, a given condition.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Specificity in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | spécificité |
| German | Spezifizität , Spezifität |
| Portuguese | especificidade |
| Spanish | especificidad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does specificity come from?
From specific + -ity, perhaps modelled after French spécificité. First attested in 1829.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).