Origin of special
synonym study for special
5.
Special,
particular,
specific refer to something pointed out for attention and consideration.
Special means given unusual treatment because of being uncommon:
a special sense of a word.
Particular implies something selected from the others of its kind and set off from them for attention:
a particular variety of orchid.
Specific implies plain and unambiguous indication of a particular instance, example, etc.:
a specific instance of cowardice.
usage note for special
In American English the adjective
special is overwhelmingly more common than
especial in all senses:
He will be of special help if you can't understand the documentation. The reverse is true of the adverbs; here
especially is by far the more common:
He will be of great help, especially if you have trouble understanding the documentation. Only when the sense “specifically” is intended is
specially more idiomatic:
The machine was specially designed for use by a left-handed operator.
OTHER WORDS FROM special
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH special
especially specially (see synonym study at especially) (see usage note at the current entry) specially specialtyWords nearby special
spearwort,
spec,
spec sheet,
spec.,
speccy,
special,
special act,
special agent,
special air service,
special anatomy,
special area
Example sentences from the Web for specially
British Dictionary definitions for specially
special
/ (ˈspɛʃəl) /
adjective
noun
verb -cials, -cialling or -cialled (tr)
NZ informal
to advertise and sell (an item) at a reduced price
we are specialling butter this week
Derived forms of special
specially, adverb specialness, nounWord Origin for special
C13: from Old French
especial, from Latin
speciālis individual, special, from
speciēs appearance,
species
undefined special
See
especial