particularize
verbUK /pəˈtɪkjʊləɹaɪz/ · US /pɚˈtɪkjələɹaɪz/
Etymology From particular + -ize.
1
To make particular, as opposed to general; to restrict to a specific or individual case, class etc.; to single out.
2
To be specific about (individual instances); to go into detail (about), to specify.
- 'Tis hard I confesse, yet I have disposed of them as I could, and will descend to particularize them according to their species.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 3, member 1, subsection 4:
- Twice we find him, not only boasting of his Parentage, as an Israelite at large, but particularizing his Descent from the Tribe of Benjamin.1709 December 6, Francis Atterbury, A Sermon preached before the Sons of the Clergy, at their Anniversary-Meeting in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Dec 6, 1709; published in Sermons and Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions, 8th edition, volume 2, sermon 8, 1766, pages 256–257:
1 more example
- 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.1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 110:
3
To differentiate, make distinct from others.
- Synonyms
- set apart, clarify, explicitize, specify, distinguish, severalize
- Derived terms
- overparticularize, particularizer, particularizingly, unparticularized, unparticularizing