particularize

Alternative forms

• particularise

Etymology

From particular +‎ -ize.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pəˈtɪkjʊləɹʌɪz/

Verb

particularize (third-person singular simple present particularizes, present participle particularizing, simple past and past participle particularized)

1. (transitive) To make particular, as opposed to general; to restrict to a specific or individual case, class etc.; to single out.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To be specific about (individual instances); to go into detail (about), to specify.
   • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Printed by Iohn Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 216894069; The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd corrected and augmented edition, Oxford: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, 1624, OCLC 54573970, (please specify |partition=1, 2, or 3):
     , I.iii.2.1:

     I have disposed of them as I could, and will descend to particularize them according to their species.

   • Atterbury

     He not only boasts of his parentage as an Israelite, but particularizes his descent from Benjamin.

   • 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 110:

     Now it is his daily work to particularize, item by item, the iniquities of the system, and the petty manifestations of the tyranny here in Arras.

3. (intransitive) To differentiate, make distinct from others.