specialis Latin · revision 4263
15 Oct 2026, 21:27 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Seneca|origins=la speciēs}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [spɛ.kiˈaː.lɪs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [spe.t͡ʃiˈaː.lis]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''speciālis''' (neuter speciāle, adverb speciāliter); third-declension two-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[af|la|species|-ālis|t1=appearance, kind]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Seneca, in a letter on Plato's classes of being, contrasts the first, general genus with the special genera below it.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Köbler dates Seneca 4 BC–65 AD.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant particular as opposed to general, specific, as in Quintilian's special questions and states of a case.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short note it is post-Augustan, used for [[singularis|alt=singulāris]] and [[proprius]].^(Lewis & Short 1879) As a noun ''speciālis'' was a close friend, as in Claudianus Mamertus, and the Historia Augusta uses it for peculiar to someone.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+
+ In medieval Latin it meant private or confidential, and as a noun a confidant or a druggist.^(Niermeyer 1976) British writers used ''in speciālī'' for “in particular”.^(DMLBS) English ''special'' is recorded around 1200, through Old French.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the special genera.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of special questions.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1st half of the 5th century AD – Claudianus Mamertus uses it of a close friend.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 1200 – English ''special'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Particular, [[m|en|specific]], [[m|en|special]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ # Peculiar to someone.^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Private, confidential.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+
+ ===Noun===
+ # A close friend, intimate.^(Georges 1913)^(Niermeyer 1976)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A druggist.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[specialitas]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[species|alt=speciēs]]
+ * [[en|special]]
+ * [[en|especial]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}