specialize
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: biology
natural-sciences
Etymology: Etymology tree
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
From special + -ize.
Inflected forms:
form: specializes
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: specializing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: specialized
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: specialized
pos: verb
tags: past
form: specialise
pos: verb
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: To make distinct or separate from what is common
pos: verb
tags: British
English
Oxford
US
intransitive
obsolete
examples: Firſt laſh the Great-ones ; but, if thou be wiſe, / In generall, and doe not ſpeciallize : / Yet, if thou doe, ſo wiſely let it be, / None may except but thoſe that faulty be.
gloss: To make distinct or separate from what is common
pos: verb
tags: British
English
Oxford
US
rare
transitive
examples: Our Sauiour specialising and nominating the places in which these false prophets should teach his presence to be.
gloss: To make distinct or separate from what is common
pos: verb
tags: British
English
Oxford
US
transitive
uncommon
examples: He is at moſt a confuſed and wild Chriſtian, not ſpecialized by any form, but capable of all.
gloss: To make distinct or separate from what is common
pos: verb
tags: British
English
Oxford
US
transitive
examples: In the lowest orders of being, we find these functions very much blended together, and several of them apparently performed by one simple apparatus ; but in proportion as we rise in the scale, we perceive that they are specialized, or separated from each other, and that a complicated set of organs is appropriated to each of them.
Those who insist that a woman’s place is at home by divine decree need only to study the life of primitive man to find out how very human are some of our domestic customs, for they will then see this distinction, that while nature has specialized woman for child-bearing, it is society which has specialized her for housework.
gloss: To become distinct or separate from what is common, particularly
pos: verb
tags: British
English
Oxford
US
intransitive
examples: These cells specialized for propagation, however they may originate, are accordingly distinguished by a special name, that of Spores of Sporules.
gloss: To become distinct or separate from what is common
pos: verb
tags: British
English
Oxford
US
intransitive
examples: Also, to their honour be it said, they will not allow their scholars to specialize, and, with four hours of mathematics a week, even a Newton would not go up to Cambridge knowing much.
gloss: To become distinct or separate from what is common
pos: verb
tags: British
English
Oxford
US
intransitive
examples: Firms... which have specialised in the manufacture of ‘heavies’...
Blackhead: I might look you up myself one of these days. Do you specialise at all, like?
Penny Guy: Yeah. Verbal abuse and colonic irrigation.
gloss: To become distinct or separate from what is common
pos: verb
tags: British
English
Oxford
US
derogatory
intransitive
usually
examples: Watson specializes in adiposeness; none of his chorus beauties may be considered featherweights.
gloss: To train (someone) in a specialty.
pos: verb
tags: British
English
Oxford
US
transitive
examples: "Kia, Honey, you got to help him to it," Bell Norton told the 16 year old girl she was "specializing" as part of the hospital's intensive care program for high risk babies and mothers.
Antonyms: generalize
Derived words: cospecialize
despecialize
hyperspecialize
nonspecializing
overspecialize
respecialize
specialisation
specialization
specialist
specializable
specializer
specialty
speciality
subspecialist
subspecialize
subspecialty
subspeciality
unspecialize
Translations: