particular

Etymology

From Middle English particuler, from Anglo-Norman particuler, Middle French particuler, particulier, from Late Latin particularis (“partial; separate, individual”), from Latin particula (“(small) part”). Equivalent to particle + -ar. Compare particle.

adj

1. (obsolete) Pertaining only to a part of something; partial.
2. Specific; discrete; concrete.
   I couldn't find the particular model you asked for, but I hope this one will do.
   We knew it was named after John Smith, but nobody knows which particular John Smith.
3. Specialised; characteristic of a specific person or thing.
   I don't appreciate your particular brand of cynicism.
4. (obsolete) Known only to an individual person or group; confidential.
5. Distinguished in some way; special (often in negative constructions).
   My five favorite places are, in no particular order, New York, Chicago, Paris, San Francisco and London.
   I didn't have any particular interest in the book.
   He brought no particular news.
   She was the particular belle of the party.
6. (comparable) Of a person, concerned with, or attentive to, details; fastidious.
   He is very particular about his food and if it isn't cooked to perfection he will send it back.
   These women are more particular about their appearance.
   There is a scraper as well as a mat, and Mrs. Challenger is most particular. 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed
7. Concerned with, or attentive to, details; minute; circumstantial; precise.
   a full and particular account of an accident
8. (law) Containing a part only; limited.
   a particular estate, or one precedent to an estate in remainder
9. (law) Holding a particular estate.
10. (logic) Forming a part of a genus; relatively limited in extension; affirmed or denied of a part of a subject.
    a particular proposition, opposed to "universal", e.g. (particular affirmative) "Some men are wise"; (particular negative) "Some men are not wise".

noun

1. A small individual part of something larger; a detail, a point.
2. (obsolete) A person's own individual case.
   temporal blessings, whether such as concern the public[…]or such as concern our particular 1658, Henry Hammond, Whole Duty of Man
3. (now philosophy, chiefly in plural) A particular case; an individual thing as opposed to a whole class. (Opposed to generals, universals.)
   When we examine common words, we find that, broadly speaking, proper names stand for particulars, while other substantives, adjectives, prepositions, and verbs stand for universals. 1912, Bertrand Russel, The Problems of Philosophy, Chapter 9