Etymologically
Log in

speziell

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 19:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ʃpeˈtsi̯ɛl/[1]

Forms

speziell (strong nominative masculine singular spezieller, comparative spezieller, superlative am speziellsten)[1]

Etymology

It is a remodelling of older spezial, given an ending that imitates French at the beginning of the 18th century; it replaced the older adjective when used on its own.[2][3][4] Wiktionary compares generell, formed in the same way from older general.[1] The older adjective is borrowed from Latin speciālis (“particular, peculiar”), recorded in German from the end of the 15th century, at first in compounds.[2][4] Like French spécial, it goes back to the Latin word, a derivative of speciēs (“appearance, kind”) (see Spezies), from the stem of speciō (“to look at”).[4][2] The older form survives as the first element of compounds such as Spezialgebiet and Spezialarzt.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DFWB has its first record in 1718, in wenn ich sehr speciell gehen … wolte “if I wanted to go into great detail”, and in 1724 one was to gather spezielle Nachricht “particular information” about a country.[3] The meaning was “particular, individual, special”.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Lavater wrote in 1772 of “the special and individual fates” of a person, and Schiller of a speciellere Beziehung in a letter to Goethe of 8 July 1796.[6] The strengthened ganz speziell is recorded from 1728, and meine ganz speciellen Freunde from 1796, often ironically.[5] From the early 19th century speziell had fully replaced spezial as an independent adjective, often as an adverb, but it is never used in compounds.[3] Since the early 20th century auf dein Spezielles! has been a colloquial toast, first recorded in 1906.[3][5]

From Spezial “close friend” (second half of the 18th century), older specialer Freund, came the Upper German short form Spezi.[2][4] Related loanwords are Spezialität (early 17th century), and spezialisieren and Spezialist (both first half of the 19th century).[2]

Timeline

  • End of the 15th century – spezial is first recorded, mostly in compounds.[2]
  • 1718 – First record of speziell.[3][5]
  • 1728 – die gantz speciellen Titul.[5]
  • 1772 – Lavater writes of speciellen fates.[6]
  • 1796 – meine ganz speciellen Freunde, often ironic.[5]
  • Early 19th century – speziell fully replaces spezial as an independent adjective.[3]
  • 1906 – First record of the toast auf dein Spezielles.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. special, particular, specific; aimed at a particular case, not general: Für diese Arbeit braucht man ein spezielles Werkzeug.[7][1]
  2. (ironic) mein ganz spezieller Freund: someone one does not like at all.[7]
  3. (colloquial) Auf dein Spezielles!: to your health![7][3]
  4. im Speziellen (chiefly Switzerland): in particular.[7]

Adverb

  1. especially, specifically: eine speziell für ältere Menschen entwickelte Software;[7] (colloquial) du speziell “you of all people”.[7]
  • spezial
  • Spezi
  • Spezialität
  • spezialisieren
  • Spezialist
  • Spezies
  • generell

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
  4. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  6. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 16, 2202
  7. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag