Specialized

How to spell specialized

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce specialized

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does specialized mean?

1. verbConcentrated on or developed expertise in one particular subject, skill, or area of activity.
2. adjectiveDesigned, equipped, or suited for a particular purpose or narrow function.

Specialized in a sentence

• verb

  The firm has specialized in tax law for over a decade.

• adjective

  The workshop uses specialized equipment for repairing watches.

• verb

  After her residency she specialized in paediatric surgery.

• adjective

  This clinic offers specialized care for sports injuries.

Where does specialized come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin species, which meant 'a kind, sort, or appearance', itself related to specere 'to look at'. From species came the medieval Latin specialis, meaning 'belonging to a particular kind', the source of the English word 'special'. The verb 'specialize' was built in English in the early 1600s by adding the productive ending -ize, which comes through Latin from the Greek -izein, a suffix meaning 'to make or to become'. The form 'specialized' is simply the past tense and past participle, marking the action of having narrowed focus to one particular area or skill. The spelling trap lives in the unstressed middle: the 'cial' sounds like 'shul', so writers can lose track of the c, the i, and the doubled vowels, and the -ized ending invites confusion with the British -ised variant.

How the word is built

• speci- (from species: kind, sort)
• -al (adjective)
• -ize (verb-forming suffix: to make or become)
• -ed (past tense/participle)

British and American spelling

Specialized is the American spelling. British English spells it specialised.