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], “The Influence of the Dead”, in 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, but they are not exact synonyms. Especial typically encompasses special, but also connotes some quality of being particular, separate, or chosen from among others.

• especially
• in especial

• special

• Speciale, calipees

Borrowed from Latin speciālis.

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

especial m or f (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, 2024
• “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 (Gascony, 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, 2008-2024, 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, 2003–2024.
• “especial” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
• “especial” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Borrowed 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 m or f (masculine and feminine 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