In zoological nomenclature, a specific name is the second part (second name) in the name of a species (a binomen). The first part is the name of the genus.

Example: The scientific name for man is Homo sapiens, which is the species name, consisting of two names: Homo is the "generic name" (the name of the genus) and sapiens the "specific name".

Grammar

Grammatically, a binomen (and trinomen) must be treated as a Latin sentence, which gives some justification to the popular usage of the phrase "Latin name" for the more correct "scientific name". Grammatically (in Latin grammar), the specific name can be:

• A noun in apposition with the genus: Panthera leo. The words do not necessarily agree in gender.
• A noun in the genitive.
  • This is common in parasites: Xenos vesparum ("of the wasps").
  • Names of people and places are used in the genitive: Latimeria chalumnae (of "Chalumna").
• An adjective, agreeing in case and gender with the genus: Felis silvestris ("the forest cat")

The same applies to a subspecific name. In zoological nomenclature, a subspecies will have a trinomen, consisting of three names: the third part is the "subspecific name".

Botany

In botanical nomenclature, the equivalent of the "specific name" is called the "specific epithet".

See also

zoological nomenclature