specialitas

Forms

speciālitās f (genitive speciālitātis); third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin speciālis (“particular, special”) + -tās.^[1][2] Köbler traces it further to speciēs (“appearance, kind”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite it first from Tertullian (c. 160–220 AD),^[1][3] whose Against Marcion (5.8) speaks of “interpreting the particular” (in specialitate interpretanda), in contrast to what is general.^[1][4]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it meant a particularity or distinctive quality: Georges records it in the grammarian Antonius quoted in Fronto's work on synonyms, in Servius on the Aeneid (2.402) and in Isidore of Seville.^[2][5] Köbler dates its use by Charisius to about 362 AD.^[3]

Medieval British writers used it for the quality of a particular individual or kind, contrasted with generalitas “generality”, for particularity of detail, and in a formula of legal appointments by which a special mandate did not take away from a general one.^[6] It also came to mean special standing or importance, and close friendship or intimacy;^[6][7] Du Cange quotes a letter of Edward II of England from 1316 in this sense.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of the particular as opposed to the general.^[1][4][3]
• c. 362 AD – Charisius uses it.^[3]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville uses it for a distinctive quality.^[2][5][3]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm pairs generalitas and specialitas as genus and species.^[6][3]
• 1316 – A letter of Edward II of England uses it for close friendship.^[4]
• 1420 – A Canterbury register has the formula in which a special mandate does not override a general one.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Particularity, a peculiarity or distinctive quality.^[1][2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) The quality of belonging to a particular individual or kind; specific detail.^[6]
3. (Medieval Latin) Special standing or importance.^[6]
4. (Medieval Latin) Close friendship, intimacy.^[7][6][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d e f g Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill