Standard Lemma guide

especial

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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/ɛsˈpɛʃəl/
Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɛʃəl
CMU ARPABET: AH0 S P EH1 SH AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

adj

Meaning 1

Exceptional in importance or significance; special.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

Pay especial attention to chapter five.
an especial hatred of cats

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

adj

Meaning 2

Particular.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

acting with no especial goal

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

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.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

Bulgarian: особен (osoben) — special
Bulgarian: специален (specialen) — special
Chinese Mandarin: 特殊 (tèshū) — special
Spanish: especial — special

Word forms

Inflections and variants

more especial — comparative
most especial — superlative
especiall — alternative, obsolete

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: especially, especialness, in especial

Related: special

Spelling and sound

Hyphenation and homophones

Hyphenation: es·pe·cial

Semantic map

Other relationships

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Real reading context

Examples

Meaning relationships

Examples

Meaning relationships

especial in complete knowledge articles