/
ˈspiːʃiːz,
-ʃɪz,
ˈspiːs-/
n.
(pl. same)
- Biology a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or of interbreeding, considered as the basic unit of taxonomy and denoted by a Latin binomial, e.g. Homo sapiens.
- a kind or sort.
- Christian Church the visible form of each of the elements of consecrated bread and wine in the Eucharist.
Etymology
ME: from L., lit. ‘appearance, form, beauty’, from specere ‘to look’.