Specialize

How to spell specialize

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce specialize

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does specialize mean?

1. verbTo concentrate on and become an expert in a particular subject, skill, or area of activity.

Specialize in a sentence

• The clinic chose to specialize in sports injuries rather than general care.

• After years in finance she decided to specialize in tax law.

Where does specialize come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This verb traces back to the Latin specialis, meaning 'individual' or 'particular', which itself grew from species, a word for a kind, sort, or appearance derived from the verb specere 'to look at'. The notion was of something singled out by its distinct look or category. English took the adjective 'special' through Old French in the 1200s, and the verb 'specialize' was assembled later, around the 1600s, by adding the action-forming ending -ize to express the idea of restricting attention to one particular kind. The same specere root for 'looking' echoes through a whole family of relatives such as 'spectacle', 'inspect', and 'species' itself. The spelling trap sits in the ending: although British writers very often meet the -ise form in everyday print, the -ize ending used here reflects the original Greek-derived suffix that scholars and the Oxford tradition have long preferred.

How the word is built

• speci- (from species: kind, sort)
• -al (adjective)
• -ize (verb-forming suffix meaning 'to make or become')

British and American spelling

Specialize is the American spelling. British English spells it specialise.