especially

Etymology

It is formed from English especial + -ly.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The adjective is from Old French especial (“pre-eminent, important”),^[3][2][6] from Latin speciālis (“belonging to a particular kind or species”),^[3][2][6] from speciēs (“kind”).^[3][2] Latin words beginning with sp, st or sc that passed into French before the 15th century usually gained an initial e-, and modern French has restored the Latin form as French spécial.^[6][3][2] The English special is a doublet.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In an especial manner; principally, chiefly: perhaps before 1400, in the Chester Plays.^[2] Etymonline dates it to about 1400 and Barnhart to probably before 1400,^[3][7] while Hoad gives the 16th century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The Middle English Dictionary records three early senses: "for a particular purpose", "in detail" (1433) and "to an exceptional degree, most of all".^[9] The phrase in especially is now obsolete.^[2] In later use the adverb came to be used with adjectives, "in an especial degree", as in especially good.^[2][5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "principally; chiefly; particularly; in an uncommon degree above any other".^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – principally, chiefly, in the Chester Plays.^[2]
• 1433 – with particularity, in detail.^[9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In particular; above all: Prices have risen, especially for fuel.^[11][5][2]
2. For a particular purpose or person: a song written especially for the wedding.^[5][9]
3. To an unusual degree; very: an especially cold winter.^[11][5][2]

Related words

• especial
• special
• specialist
• specialty
• species
• specially

Usage notes

Especially and particularly single out the most prominent case, often to narrow a general statement;^[12] chiefly and principally suggest that a statement holds for most of the cases in question.^[12]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House