especial

English

Alternative forms

• especiall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English especial, via Old French especial, from Latin specialis, from species (“appearance, form, beauty”), from specere (“to look”). Doublet of special. Related to species.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛsˈpɛʃəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛʃəl
• Hyphenation: es‧pe‧cial

Adjective

especial (comparative more especial, superlative most especial)

1. Exceptional in importance or significance; special.

   Pay especial attention to chapter five.

   an especial hatred of cats

   • 1941 July, “The Why and the Wherefore: Inner and Outer Distant Signals”, in Railway Magazine, page 336:

     [...] this is of especial value in foggy weather.

   • 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide‎^[1], page 5:

     Starting from this base list, a number of databases were systematically searched for terms, with especial effort taken to discover the earliest attestation possible[.]

2. Particular.

   acting with no especial goal

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Influence of the Dead”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 270:

     Only one modern picture was admitted, and that was a likeness of Constance, painted under her father's especial instructions.

Usage notes

Especial is far less common than special, but they are not exact synonyms. Especial typically encompasses special, but also connotes some quality of being particular, separate, or chosen from among others.

Derived terms

• especially
• especialness
• in especial

Related terms

• special

Translations

special

• Bulgarian: особен (bg) (osoben), специален (bg) (specialen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 特殊 (zh) (tèshū)

• Spanish: especial (es)

Anagrams

• Speciale, calipees

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin speciālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əs.pə.siˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [es.pe.siˈal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

especial m or f (masculine and feminine plural especials)

1. special

Derived terms

• educació especial
• especialista
• especialitzar
• especialment

Related terms

• especialitat

Further reading

• “especial”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “especial”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “especial” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “especial”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Occitan

Alternative forms

• especiau (Gascony, Limousin, Provençal)

Etymology

From Latin speciālis.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

Adjective

especial m (feminine singular especiala, masculine plural especials, feminine plural especialas)

1. special

Derived terms

• especialament
• especialista
• especializar

Related terms

• especialitat

Further reading

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana‎^[2], L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2025, page 117

Old French

Etymology

From Latin speciālis.

Adjective

especial m (oblique and nominative feminine singular especiale)

1. special
2. powerful; mighty

Declension

	Case	masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	subject	especials, especiaus	especiale	especial
	oblique	especial			especiale	especial
plural	subject	especial	especiales		especial
	oblique	especials, especiaus			especiales	especial

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin speciālis.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /is.pe.siˈaw/ [is.pe.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /is.peˈsjaw/ [is.peˈsjaʊ̯], /es.pe.siˈaw/ [es.pe.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /es.peˈsjaw/ [es.peˈsjaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /is.pe.siˈaw/ [is.pe.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /is.peˈsjaw/ [is.peˈsjaʊ̯], /es.pe.siˈaw/ [es.pe.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /es.peˈsjaw/ [es.peˈsjaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /iʃ.pe.siˈaw/ [iʃ.pe.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /iʃ.peˈsjaw/ [iʃ.peˈsjaʊ̯], /eʃ.pe.siˈaw/ [eʃ.pe.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /eʃ.peˈsjaw/ [eʃ.peˈsjaʊ̯]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /es.pe.siˈaw/ [es.pe.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /es.peˈsjaw/ [es.peˈsjaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /(i)ʃ.pɨˈsjal/ [(i)ʃ.pɨˈsjaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /(i)ʃ.pɨˈsjal/ [(i)ʃ.pɨˈsjaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /(i)ʃ.pɨˈsja.li/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: es‧pe‧ci‧al

Adjective

especial m or f (plural especiais)

1. special
2. (euphemistic) disabled (having some physical disability)

Derived terms

• especialidade
• especialmente

Further reading

• “especial”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “especial”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2026
• “especial” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “especial”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “especial”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “especial”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin speciālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /espeˈθjal/ [es.peˈθjal] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /espeˈsjal/ [es.peˈsjal] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: es‧pe‧cial

Adjective

especial m or f (masculine and feminine plural especiales)

1. special (distinguished by a unique quality)
   • 2020 September 24, Matt Villano, “Estudiantes con necesidades especiales enfrentan desafíos de aprendizaje virtual”, in CNN en Español‎^[3]:

     Ninguna discusión sobre el aprendizaje virtual para estudiantes con necesidades especiales puede comenzar sin al menos una explicación superficial de qué son los planes de educación individualizados y cómo funcionan normalmente en un entorno escolar. […] Piense en un IEP como un esquema detallado de la instrucción y los servicios de educación especial que un niño necesita para prosperar en la escuela.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. special (of particular interest or value)

Derived terms

• contribución especial
• de previo y especial pronunciamiento
• educación especial
• efectos especiales
• en especial
• especialista
• especializar
• especialmente
• región administrativa especial
• relatividad especial

Related terms

• especialidad

Noun

especial m (plural especiales)

1. (television) special

Further reading

• “especial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025