special

Forms

special m or n (feminine singular specială, masculine plural speciali, feminine/neuter plural speciale)^[1] Old forms were spețial, specialiel and spețiel.^[2][3] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 spells it in the transitional alphabet as спечiaл, спецiaл.^[4]

Etymology

It is a neologism that the dictionaries derive from several languages at once.^[2][5] For DEX and MDN it is borrowed from French spécial together with Latin speciālis;^{[6][7][2][5][3]} in MDA2 and the DLR it is also borrowed from Italian speziale (with its variant speciale) and German speziell;^{[6][7][2][5][3]} Tiktin names New Latin specialis and the Italian word.^{[6][7][2][5][3]} Wiktionary takes it from French, itself a learned borrowing from Latin.^[1] The Latin adjective is formed on speciēs (“appearance; kind”) with the suffix -ālis.^[8][1] Graur lists it among the Romanian descendants of the family of speciō (“to look at”), with specie and spectacol.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1736, a document published by Stinghe, where the word means “particular”.^[3] MDA2 and the DLR cite first Țichindeal's fables of 1814: „în multe și spețiale moduri” “in many and particular ways”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th and early 19th centuries the word kept its Latin sense “particular, specific”, as opposed to general.^[5][3] Negulici defined it in 1848 as “determined; destined for something in particular”.^[4] It then took the sense “made for a given purpose” (ediție specială “special edition”), and “belonging to a speciality”.^[6][10] DEX also records the extended sense “out of the ordinary, exceptionally good”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1736 – the first record.^[3]
• 1814 – spețiale in Țichindeal's fables.^[2][5]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. special, particular: distinct from similar things by its own features; found only in one thing or one class of things.^[6][2][1]
2. Made or reserved for a particular purpose; also adverbially: făcut special pentru tine “made specially for you”.^[6]
3. Out of the ordinary, exceptionally good.^[6]
4. (of publications) Issued for a particular occasion.^[6][10]
5. Belonging to a speciality; specialised.^[6][7]

Related words

• specialitate
• specialist
• specie
• Latin speciālis

Usage notes

În special means “especially, in particular”.^[6][7] The ⟨ci⟩ is pronounced as two syllables, -ci-al.^[6][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 948
3. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. special
4. ^ a b c Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. special
5. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. special
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 1038
7. ^ a b c d e Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. special
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. speciālis
9. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 94
10. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. special