. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English *special, especial, especiall, from Old French especial (whence also French spécial), from Latin speciālis (from speciēs). In this sense displaced native Old English synderlīċ. Doublet of especial.
Pronunciation
Adjective
special (comparative more special or specialer, superlative most special or specialest)
- Distinguished by a unique or unusual quality.
a special episode of a television series
her special blend of spices
Why are you standing up in your seat? What are you, special?
2004, George Carlin, “PLEASE DON'T SAY THAT”, in When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 132:EVERY CHILD IS SPECIAL
An empty and meaningless sentiment. What about every adult? Isn't every adult special? And if not, then at what age does a person go from being special to being not-so-special? And if every adult is also special, then that means all people are special and the idea has no meaning.
- Of particular value or interest; dear; beloved.
Everyone is special to someone.
his special friend of many years, Bill
- (euphemistic) Of or related to disabilities, especially learning or intellectual disabilities.
He goes to a special school.
- (by extension, derogatory, often offensive) Stupid, lacking intelligence.
What do you mean, you don't understand the sign? What are you, special?
- Constituting or relating to a species.
- Synonym: specific
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) Chief in excellence.
c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :The king hath drawn / The special head of all the land together.
- (military) Of or related to unconventional warfare.
special forces, special operations
- (law) Appointed specifically to examine a single event or issue.
- For the few times the U.S. Supreme Court has to actually try a case, they will appoint a special master to do so.
- After the Watergate break in, a special prosecutor was appointed.
- (euphemistic) Containing drugs, especially marijuana.
2012 November 1, Klyde, How To Hide The Smell Of Weed, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 9:This book will help you to […] • Cook with the confidence that the neighbors won't find out your brownies are 'special' • Never again worry about getting caught growing because someone smelled your garden
2020 March 19, I. D. Oro, Mexico Wall 130, I. D. Oro, page 136:Then with the rest of the money I use it to pay for the building, maintenance, utilities, up keep, and the special brownies! In addition, I have bongs that the parishioners can use if they forget to bring their own bongs for smoking.
2021 June 15, Laura Heffernan, Sweet Reality, Empress Books:“Jen, when someone offers you 'special' brownies or 'funny' brownies, they have pot in them. You're totally high right now.” Me, high? No way! No one ever offered the nerdy girl drugs. And I'd never, ever accept them.
2021 September 23, Gillian A. Corsiatto, Duck Light, FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 5:“They're special brownies,” said Rosie. Special brownies! Of course they were special! They were perfect and delicious! What a great word to describe them! Rosie caught on that Lulu had not caught on. “Special brownies. Happy brownies. […] They're the ones that have weed in them.”
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
distinguished by a unique or unusual quality
- Albanian: i veçantë (sq)
- Arabic: خَاصّ (ḵāṣṣ), خُصُوصِيّ (ḵuṣūṣiyy)
- Moroccan Arabic: خاص (ḵaṣṣ)
- Armenian: հատուկ (hy) (hatuk)
- Azerbaijani: xüsusi (az), əlahiddə, xas, məxsus (az)
- Basque: berezi
- Belarusian: асаблі́вы (be) (asablívy), спецыя́льны (spjecyjálʹny), вынятко́вы (vynjatkóvy)
- Bengali: বিশেষ (bn) (biśeś)
- Bulgarian: осо́бен (bg) (osóben), специа́лен (bg) (speciálen)
- Burmese: ထူး (my) (htu:)
- Catalan: especial (ca)
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 特別/特别 (yue) (dak6 bit6)
- Mandarin: 特別的/特别的 (zh) (tèbié de), 特殊的 (zh) (tèshū de), 專門的/专门的 (zh) (zhuānmén de)
- Czech: zvláštní (cs), speciální (cs)
- Danish: speciel
- Dutch: speciaal (nl)
- Esperanto: speciala (eo)
- Estonian: eri-
- Finnish: erikoinen (fi), omalaatuinen (fi), erikois-
- French: spécial (fr)
- Georgian: განსაკუთრებული (gansaḳutrebuli), სპეციალური (sṗecialuri), საგანგებო (sagangebo)
- German: speziell (de), Spezial-, ungewöhnlich (de), Sonder- (de), besondere (de)
- Greek: έκτακτος (el) m (éktaktos)
- Hebrew: מיוחד \ מְיֻחָד (he) m (m'yukhád), ייחודי m (yikhudí)
- Hindi: ख़ास (xās), विशेष (hi) (viśeṣ)
- Hungarian: különleges (hu), speciális (hu), rendkívüli (hu), alkalmi (hu), külön- (hu), szakmai (hu), szak-
- Icelandic: sérstakur (is)
- Ido: specala (io)
- Indonesian: khusus (id), istimewa (id), khas (id)
- Irish: speisialta (ga), ar leith
- Italian: speciale (it), specifico (it)
- Japanese: 特別な (ja) (とくべつな, tokubetsu na), 特殊な (ja) (とくしゅな, tokushu na)
- Kazakh: арнайы (arnaiy), арнаулы (arnauly)
- Khmer: ពិសេស (km) (pisaeh)
- Korean: 특별하다 (ko) (teukbyeolhada), 특수하다 (ko) (teuksuhada)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: taybet (ku)
- Kyrgyz: атайын (ky) (atayın)
- Lao: ພິເສດ (phi sēt)
- Latgalian: sovins
- Latin: eximius, praecipuus
- Latvian: īpašs
- Lithuanian: ypatingas, nepaprastas
- Macedonian: посебен (poseben)
- Malay: istimewa (ms), khas, khusus
- Maori: motuhake
- Marathi: विशेष (viśeṣ)
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: онцгой (mn) (oncgoj), тусгай (mn) (tusgaj)
- Navajo: spéshelígíí
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: spesiell (no), spesial
- Nynorsk: spesiell, spesial
- Occitan: especial (oc) m
- Old English: synderlīċ
- Pashto: مخصوص (maxsús), خاص (ps) (xās), خصوصي (ps) (xosusí)
- Persian: ویژه (fa) (viže), خاص (fa) (xâs), مخصوص (fa) (maxsus)
- Plautdietsch: besonda
- Polish: specjalny (pl), wyjątkowy (pl), osobliwy (pl)
- Portuguese: especial (pt)
- Romanian: special (ro)
- Russian: осо́бый (ru) m (osóbyj), осо́бенный (ru) m (osóbennyj), специа́льный (ru) m (speciálʹnyj)
- Scottish Gaelic: sònraichte, àraidh, air leth
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: по́себан, спе̏ција̄лан
- Roman: póseban (sh), spȅcijālan (sh)
- Slovak: špeciálny, zvláštny
- Slovene: poseben m
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: wósebny
- Spanish: especial (es)
- Swahili: maalum (sw)
- Swedish: speciell (sv), särskild (sv)
- Tajik: вижа (tg) (viža), хос (tg) (xos), махсус (tg) (maxsus), алоҳида (alohida)
- Tatar: махсус (maxsus)
- Thai: พิเศษ (th) (pí-sèet)
- Turkish: özel (tr), has (tr)
- Turkmen: aýratyn (tk)
- Ukrainian: особли́вий (osoblývyj), спеціа́льний (uk) (speciálʹnyj), ви́їмковий (výjimkovyj)
- Urdu: خاص (xās), مخصوص (maxsūs)
- Uyghur: ئالاھىدە (alahide), خاس (xas)
- Uzbek: maxsus (uz), alohida (uz), xos (uz)
- Vietnamese: đặc biệt (vi) (特別)
- Welsh: arbennig (cy)
- Yiddish: ספּעציעל (spetsyel)
|
of particular interest or value; certain; dear; beloved; favored
- Armenian: հատուկ (hy) (hatuk)
- Bulgarian: специален (bg) (specialen), любим (bg) (ljubim)
- Catalan: especial (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 格外 (zh) (géwài)
- Czech: jedinečný (cs)
- Dutch: speciaal (nl)
- Esperanto: speciala (eo)
- Estonian: eriline (et)
- Finnish: pidetty (fi), erityinen (fi), tietty (fi)
- French: particulier (fr)
- Georgian: განსაკუთრებული (gansaḳutrebuli), გამორჩეული (gamorčeuli)
- German: speziell (de), Spezial-, Sonder- (de), bestimmt (de), Lieblings- (de)
- Greek: ειδικός (el) m (eidikós), ιδιαίτερος (el) m (idiaíteros)
- Hebrew: מיוחד \ מְיֻחָד (he) m (m'yukhád)
- Hungarian: különleges (hu)
- Ido: specala (io)
- Indonesian: spesial (id)
- Italian: speciale (it)
- Latin: eximius
- Malay: istimewa (ms)
- Norwegian: spesiell (no)
- Old English: synderlīċ
- Polish: wyjątkowy (pl)
- Portuguese: especial (pt)
- Russian: дорого́й (ru) (dorogój), люби́мый (ru) (ljubímyj)
- Scottish Gaelic: sònraichte, àraidh
- Spanish: especial (es)
- Swedish: speciell (sv)
- Turkish: özel (tr)
|
constituting or relating to a species
Translations to be checked
Noun
special (plural specials)
- A reduction in consumer cost (usually for a limited time) for items or services rendered.
- Synonym: offer
We're running a special on turkey for Thanksgiving.
- One of a rotation of meals systematically offered for a lower price at a restaurant.
Today's special is our tuna melt on rye.
- (broadcasting) Unusual or exceptional episode of a series.
Did you see the Christmas special?
- (British, colloquial) A special constable.
- Anything that is not according to normal practice, plan, or schedule, as an unscheduled run of transportation that is normally scheduled.
Thousands came to see the special that carried the President's coffin.
- Any unlicensed medicine produced or obtained for a specific individual patient.
- (journalism) A correspondent; a journalist sent to the scene of an event to report back.
- (journalism) A dispatch sent back by a special correspondent.
- (theater) A light that illuminates a specific person or thing on the stage.
2009, Steven Shelley, A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, page 132:In addition to followspots, there will be three frontlight specials on Autoyokes hung on the truss to provide frontlight specials.
2009, Jennifer Bringle, Lighting, page 23:The first is a special—a single lighting instrument that lights a particular spot on the stage. Specials generally have no color, or a more saturated color, allowing them to stand out through other lighting onstage.
Derived terms
Translations
A reduction in consumer cost (usually for a limited time) for items or services rendered
(TV, radio) Unusual or exceptional episode of a series
Verb
special (third-person singular simple present specials, present participle specialing or specialling, simple past and past participle specialed or specialled)
- (nursing) To supervise a patient one-on-one.
1905, Shadyside Hospital (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Annual Report, page 27:We have not sent our pupils out on private duty except a very few times, but they have an unusual amount of specialing to do inside.
2015 July 7, Jo-Ann Giandinoto, Karen-leigh Edward, “The phenomenon of co-morbid physical and mental illness in acute medical care: the lived experience of Australian health professionals”, in BMC Research Notes, volume 8, →DOI:Participant three described their personal interest in mental health care: “I have an interest in mental health but I have found that other staff on the surgical ward who have been there for a while… often say I hate specialling these patients…”
Anagrams
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from English special.
Pronunciation
Noun
special m (plural specials)
- A special broadcast episode.
Related terms
Middle French
Adjective
special m (feminine singular speciale, masculine plural speciaulx, feminine plural speciales)
- special; extraordinary; beyond what is usual
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French spécial, from Latin specialis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
special m or n (feminine singular specială, masculine plural speciali, feminine and neuter plural speciale)
- special
Declension
Swedish
Noun
special c
- a large-scale map folded into the main map or nautical chart
- Synonym: specialkarta
Declension
Adjective
special
- (almost exclusively in compounds) special
See also
References