See Also:

particular (iou)



particular adjective & noun. LME.
[Old French particuler (mod. -ier) from Latin particularis, from particula PARTICLE: see -AR1.]
A. adjective.
a. Belonging to or affecting a part, not the whole, of something; not universal. LME-M17.
b. Logic. Designating a proposition in which something is predicated of some but not all of a class. Opp. UNIVERSAL adjective 1b. M16.
particular negative etc.
Pertaining to a single definite thing or person, or set of things or persons, as distinguished from others; of one's (its etc.) own; special; not general. Freq. with possess. pronoun LME.
E. Blunden In the trenches a subaltern's business was rather general than particular. K. Clark Painters with different aims can find in him inspiration..for their own particular endeavours. Times Everyone should receive the training appropriate to his particular aptitude.
b. Belonging only to a specified person or thing; restricted to. L16-E18.
Belonging to, concerning, or known to an individual person or set of people and no other; private, personal, not public; (of a person) not occupying a public position. obsolete exc. Scot. LME.
Relating to or concerned with the separate parts or details of a whole; describing something in detail. LME.
b. Attentive to details; specially careful; precise; exacting with regard to details; fastidious, scrupulous. E17.
J. Galsworthy So long as a Forsyte got what he was after, he was not too particular about the means.
That is a unit or definite one among a number; considered by itself, apart from the rest; individual. LME.
T. Hardy Winterborne..had mentioned no particular hour in his invitation to the Melburys. L. Durrell This particular night was full of a rare summer lightning.
b. Existing by itself apart from others; actually separate or distinct. LME-M17.
Distinguished in some way among others of the kind; more than ordinary; especially good or enjoyable; (now Scot.) strange, odd; remarkable. L15.
U. Bentley The one with the mole had a particular charm.
b. Designating certain modifications of ordinary iambic metres used for hymns. Chiefly US. L19.
a. Specially attentive to a person. E17-E19.
b. Closely acquainted, intimate. obsolete exc. as passing into sense 6. E18.
Special collocations: particular average: see AVERAGE noun2 3. Particular Baptist Christian Church a member of a Baptist denomination holding the doctrine of the election and redemption of some but not all people (cf. PARTICULARISM 2). particular estate Law (now Hist.) an estate in actual possession, as opp. to any remainder. particular integral Math. (a) a solution of a differential equation obtained by assigning values to the arbitrary constants of the complete primitive of the equation; (b) a singular solution of a differential equation. particular INTENTION. particular rule: see RULE noun. particular solution = particular integral (a) above.
b. noun.
A part or section of a whole; spec. a division of a discourse or argument. LME-M19.
A minute or subordinate part of a thing considered apart from the rest; a detail, an item; a feature, a factor; in pl., items or details of information; information as to details; a detailed account. LME.
P. Roth That one knew exactly..down to the smallest particular. Which? There's no legal obligation for estate agents to produce accurate particulars.
b. A statement giving the details of a thing; a detailed description or enumeration. E17-L18.
a. Logic. A particular proposition. M16.
b. A particular case or instance; an individual thing in relation to the whole class. Chiefly in the particular or in pl. L16.
F. L. Wright Proceeding from generals to particulars in the field of work. E. H. Gombrich Endowed with the gift of seeing the universal in the particular.
c. A single thing among a number, considered by itself; an individual thing or person; a person not holding a public position. L16-M18.
a. (One's) individual case; (one's) personal interest, concern, profit, or advantage; a private matter. Freq. in for one's particular, for particular, in (one's) own case, as far as (oneself) is concerned. M16-L18.
b. Personal relation, close acquaintance; personal regard. rare. E-M17.
a. A special friend, a favourite. slang. M18.
b. A thing specially characteristic of a place or person; one's special choice or favourite. E19.
Phrases: for one's particular, for particular: see sense 4a above. in particular (a) as one of a number distinguished from the rest; especially; (b) one by one, individually; (c) privately. in the particular in the particular case. London particular (a) a kind of madeira imported through London; (b) (chiefly Hist.) a dense fog affecting London.
particularness noun (rare) E18.