species, sp., spp., species name, specific, speciose, specific epithet

From Latin species, meaning kind, sort. Originally meant appearance, sight, a seeing. First used in the biological sense in 1608 (Entomology Online).

species noun (used as singular and plural), adjective specific - usually defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. This is called the biological species concept. Compare the phylogenetic species concept, a morphologically or behaviorally, etc., distinct group of organisms that shares an ancestor and maintains itself with respect to other groups.

Note: "species" is both singular and plural- one speaks of "a species" and "many species". There's no such word as "specie" except in reference to coins. Abbreviations are sp. for one species, and spp. for more than one species.

Related terms:

speciose adjective - rich in number of species, as in a speciose genus

species name, specific epithet - in zoological nomenclature, a specific name or specific epithet is the second part (second name) in the name of a species (a binomen). The first part is the name of the genus (Wikipedia). Strictly speaking, the term "species name" refers not to the specific epithet, but to the whole binomen, including both the generic name and the specific epithet. Some would also argue that a species name is not complete without the author citation at the end.