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In zoological nomenclature, a specific name or specific epithet is the second part (second name) in the name of a species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 (a binomen
Binomen

In ICZN, a binomen, or binominal name, is the name of a species. The term was introduced in 1953.A binomen is a name consisting of two names: generic name and specific name....
). The first part is the name of the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
.

Note that in botanical nomenclature
Botanical nomenclature

Botanical nomenclature is the formal naming of plants, from a scientific point of view. It has a long history, going back perhaps to Theophrastos, but anyway back to the period when Latin was the scientific language throughout Europe....
, "epithet" always refers to the specific name, whereas in zoological nomenclature, without qualifiers ("generic"/"specific") it can refer to either part of the binomen.

Example: The scientific name for man is Homo sapiens, which is the species name, consisting of two names: Homo is the "generic name
Generic name

Generic name may be*Generic name, name of a biological genus*Generic name, International Nonproprietary Name for a drug*A placeholder name, referring to nobody in particular, such as Joe Bloggs or John Q. Public...
" (the name of the genus) and sapiens the "specific name".


Grammar

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






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In zoological nomenclature, a specific name or specific epithet is the second part (second name) in the name of a species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 (a binomen
Binomen

In ICZN, a binomen, or binominal name, is the name of a species. The term was introduced in 1953.A binomen is a name consisting of two names: generic name and specific name....
). The first part is the name of the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
.

Note that in botanical nomenclature
Botanical nomenclature

Botanical nomenclature is the formal naming of plants, from a scientific point of view. It has a long history, going back perhaps to Theophrastos, but anyway back to the period when Latin was the scientific language throughout Europe....
, "epithet" always refers to the specific name, whereas in zoological nomenclature, without qualifiers ("generic"/"specific") it can refer to either part of the binomen.

Example: The scientific name for man is Homo sapiens, which is the species name, consisting of two names: Homo is the "generic name
Generic name

Generic name may be*Generic name, name of a biological genus*Generic name, International Nonproprietary Name for a drug*A placeholder name, referring to nobody in particular, such as Joe Bloggs or John Q. Public...
" (the name of the genus) and sapiens the "specific name".


Grammar

Grammatically, a binomen (and trinomen) must be treated as a Latin phrase, 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
    Lion

    The lion is a member of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. With exceptionally large males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger....
    . The words do not necessarily agree in gender. This is very often a vernacular name, or the name (specific or generic) of a similar organism.
  • A noun in the genitive.
    • This is common in parasites: Xenos vesparum
      Xenos vesparum

      Xenos vesparum is an insect species, whose females are permanent entomophagous endoparasites of Polistes paper wasps. They dwell their whole life in the abdomen of the wasp....
       ("of the wasps").
    • Names of people and places are used in the genitive: Latimeria chalumnae
      Coelacanth

      Coelacanth is the common name for an Order of fish that includes the oldest living Lineage of gnathostomata known to date. The coelacanths, which are related to lungfishes and tetrapods, were believed to have been extinction since the end of the Cretaceous period, until the first Latimeria specimen was found off the east coast of Sout...
       (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
Trinomen

In ICZN, a trinomen, or trinominal name, refers to the name of a subspecies.A trinomen is a name consisting of three names: Genus#Generic name, specific name and subspecific name....
, consisting of three names: the third part is the "subspecific name
Subspecific name

In ICZN, a subspecific name is the third part of a trinomen. In zoology there is only one rank below that of species, namely "subspecies".The name of a subspecies is a trinomen, a trinomial name, i.e....
".