especial

• especiall (obsolete)

From Middle English especial, via Old French especial, from Latin specialis, from species (“appearance, form, beauty”), from specere (“to look”). Doublet of special. Related to species.

• IPA^(key): /ɛsˈpɛʃəl/
• Rhymes: -ɛʃəl
• Hyphenation: es‧pe‧cial

especial (comparative more especial, superlative most especial)

1. Exceptional in importance or significance; special.

   Pay especial attention to chapter five.

   an especial hatred of cats

   • 1941 July, “The Why and the Wherefore: Inner and Outer Distant Signals”, in Railway Magazine, page 336:

     [...] this is of especial value in foggy weather.

   • 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide‎, page 5:

     Starting from this base list, a number of databases were systematically searched for terms, with especial effort taken to discover the earliest attestation possible[.]

2. Particular.

   acting with no especial goal

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 270:

     Only one modern picture was admitted, and that was a likeness of Constance, painted under her father's especial instructions.

especial is far less common than special

• especially
• in especial

• special

• Speciale, calipees

From Latin speciālis.

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /əs.pə.siˈal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /es.pe.siˈal/

especial (masculine and feminine plural especials)

1. special

• especialitat

• “especial” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “especial”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “especial” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “especial” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• especiau (Gascon, Limousin, Provençal)

From Latin speciālis.

• Audio (Languedocien)

  (file)

especial m (feminine singular especiala, masculine plural especials, feminine plural especialas)

1. special

• especialitat

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2016, page 117.

From Latin speciālis.

especial m (oblique and nominative feminine singular especiale)

1. special
2. powerful; mighty

Borrowed from Latin speciālis.

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: es‧pe‧ci‧al

especial m or f (plural especiais)

1. special
2. (euphemistic) disabled (having some physical disability)

• especialidade
• especialmente

• “especial” in iDicionário Aulete.
• “especial” in Dicionário inFormal.
• “especial” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “especial” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2023.
• “especial” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
• “especial” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

From Latin speciālis.

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /espeˈθjal/ [es.peˈθjal]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /espeˈsjal/ [es.peˈsjal]

• Audio (Colombia)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: es‧pe‧cial

especial (plural especiales)

1. special (distinguished by a unique quality)
2. special (of particular interest or value)

especial m (plural especiales)

1. (television) special

• “especial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014