noun · 9 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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General-American:/ˈspɛʃ.əl.ti/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
South-Asia:/ˈspɛʃ.əl.ʈi/
South-Asia:/spɛˈʃæl.ʈi/
CMU ARPABET:S P EH1 SH AH0 L T IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:S P EY1 SH AH0 L T IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
That in which one specializes; a chosen expertise or talent; bailiwick.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, Canada, US
Examples
Near-synonym: discipline
medical specialty
academic specialty
They cook well overall, but their true specialty is pasta.
The doctor ordered a consultation with another doctor in a different specialty.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: specialism
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A product that originates in and is characteristic of a place.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, Canada, US
Examples
regional specialty
house specialty
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Particularity.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, Canada, US, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A particular or peculiar case.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, Canada, US
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
An attribute or quality peculiar to a species.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, Canada, US
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
A contract or obligation under seal; a contract by deed; a writing, under seal, given as security for a debt particularly specified.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, Canada, US
Topics: law
Examples
1812, Joseph Chitty, A Treatise on Pleading, with a Collection of Practical Precedents, and Notes Thereon, 2nd American edition, edited by Thomas Day, New York, Volume 2, section 456, note c, [...] in a plea to an action of debt on specialty, it is still necessary to show that the debt on which the judgment was recovered was a specialty, or to aver that the judgment was recovered before the defendant had notice of the plaintiff’s demand.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
the special line of work you have adopted as your career
