specie

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   money in the form of coins, especially gold or silver coins with intrinsic value rather than paper currency

   The guide accepted a small payment in specie before revealing the safest route.

2. 2
   noun

   actual or identical form rather than an equivalent, used chiefly in the formal phrase in specie

   The court ordered the rare manuscript to be returned in specie rather than replaced with its cash value.

Originally used in the Latin phrase in specie, from Latin specie, the ablative singular of species, 'appearance, form, or kind.' In specie meant 'in the actual form'; in financial use that form was coined metal rather than a note or promise, giving the noun its monetary sense.

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