verb
Meaning 1
To specialize to an excessive degree.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
overspecialize
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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Received-Pronunciation: /ˌəʊvəˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/
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General-American: /ˌoʊvɚˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/
verb
Meaning 2
become overly specialized
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- She overspecialized when she concentrated on verbs in Fijian
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: overspecialise
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: specialize, specialise, narrow, narrow down
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Old English ofer- Middle English over- English over- English special Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English specialize English overspecialize From over- + specialize.