specie

specie — noun

1. coins made of metal that people use as money, especially in historical contexts

1.名詞B2
釋義

coins made of metal that people use as money, especially in historical contexts or when talking about money in physical coin form rather than paper banknotes.

例句

The museum display case held Roman gold specie from the first century AD.

specie preceded by metal type: gold/silver

During the gold rush, miners were paid in specie rather than banknotes.

in specie — common prepositional phrase for payment method

同義詞
  • coin

    more general and common; refers to any single piece of metal money or the concept

  • hard currency

    modern term for money that holds stable value, not limited to coins

  • bullion

    precious metal in bar or ingot form, not minted into coins

反義詞
  • paper money

    banknotes as opposed to metal coins

  • fiat currency

    modern money not backed by a physical commodity like gold or silver

用法筆記

Almost always used in the fixed phrase 'in specie'. Often appears in historical, legal, or formal financial writing. It is an uncountable noun — you would not say 'a specie' (a single coin) or 'species' to mean multiple coins.

常見錯誤

❌The bank exchanged my dollars for species.
✅The bank exchanged my dollars for specie.
💡'species' is an unrelated biological term; 'specie' is the coin-money word.
❌He found a specie on the sidewalk.
✅He found a coin on the sidewalk.' or ✅ 'Payment was made in specie.
💡'specie' is uncountable and not used for a single coin in everyday speech.

2. an older spelling of the word 'species', used in historical or pre-modern scient

2.名詞C2
釋義

an older spelling of the word 'species', used in historical or pre-modern scientific writing to refer to a group of living things whose members share similar features and can breed together.

例句

In his 1753 work, Linnaeus classified each plant as a distinct specie.

archaic 'specie' = modern 'species' in taxonomic context

The 17th-century manuscript described a strange new specie of bird from the Pacific islands.

用法筆記

This sense is now considered archaic. In modern English, always use the standard spelling 'species' for biological classification. You may encounter 'specie' only in older books, historical documents, or quotations from past centuries.

常見錯誤

❌There are over 400 specie of sharks.
✅There are over 400 species of sharks.
💡'specie' does NOT mean 'species' in modern English; use the standard spelling.