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English
Etymology
From Middle English specialte, Old French specialte, especialte, from Latin specialitas.
Pronunciation
Noun
specialty (plural specialties) (Canada, US, Australia)
- That in which one specializes; a chosen expertise or talent.
They cook well overall, but their true specialty is pasta.
1858, Charles Kingsley, “My Winter-Garden”, in Fraser’s Magazine, volume 57, page 410:Even men of boundless knowledge, like Humboldt, must have had once their speciality, their pet subject, or they would have, strictly speaking, no knowledge at all.
- A product that originates in and is characteristic of a place.
- (obsolete) Particularity.
c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:The specialty of rule hath been neglected:
And, look, how many Grecian tents do stand
Hollow upon this plain, so many hollow factions.
- A particular or peculiar case.
- An attribute or quality peculiar to a species.
- (law) A contract or obligation under seal; a contract by deed; a writing, under seal, given as security for a debt particularly specified.
c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :Let specialties be therefore drawne betweene vs,
That couenants may be kept on either hand.
- 1812, Joseph Chitty, A Treatise on Pleading, with a Collection of Practical Precedents, and Notes Thereon, 2nd American edition, edited by Thomas Day, New York, Volume 2, section 456, note c,
- in a plea to an action of debt on specialty, it is still necessary to show that the debt on which the judgment was recovered was a specialty, or to aver that the judgment was recovered before the defendant had notice of the plaintiff’s demand.
Derived terms
Translations
that in which one specializes
- Arabic: اِخْتِصَاص m (iḵtiṣāṣ)
- Egyptian Arabic: اختصاص m (exteṣāṣ)
- Armenian: մասնագիտություն (hy) (masnagitutʻyun)
- Bulgarian: специа́лност (bg) f (speciálnost)
- Catalan: especialitat (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 專業 / 专业 (zh) (zhuānyè), 專長 / 专长 (zh) (zhuāncháng) (special skill), 擅長 / 擅长 (zh) (shàncháng) (special skill)
- Czech: specialita (cs) f
- Dutch: specialiteit (nl) f, terrein (nl) n
- Finnish: erikoisuus (fi), erikoisala, spesialiteetti
- French: spécialité (fr) f
- German: Spezialität (de) f
- Greek: ειδικότητα (el) f (eidikótita)
- Hungarian: különlegesség (hu), specialitás (hu)
- Icelandic: sérréttur m
- Italian: specialità (it) f
- Japanese: 専門 (ja) (せんもん, senmon)
- Korean: 특산물 (ko) (teuksanmul)
- Macedonian: специја́лност f (specijálnost)
- Marathi: विशेषता f (viśeṣtā), खासियत f (khāsiyat)
- Norwegian: spesialitet
- Persian: تخصص (fa) (taxassos)
- Polish: specjalność (pl) f, specjalizacja (pl) f
- Portuguese: especialidade (pt) f
- Russian: специа́льность (ru) f (speciálʹnostʹ), специализа́ция (ru) f (specializácija)
- Spanish: especialidad (es) f
- Swedish: specialitet (sv) c, specialité c
- Tagalog: katangian
- Ukrainian: спеціа́льність (uk) f (speciálʹnistʹ)
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product that is characteristic of a place
particular or peculiar case
attribute or quality peculiar to a species
legal: contract or obligation under seal