specialty

Alternative forms

• speciality (British / Commonwealth spelling)

Etymology

From Old French specialte, especialte, from Latin specialitas.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈspɛʃəlti/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

specialty (plural specialties)

1. That in which one specializes; a chosen expertise or talent.

   They cook well overall, but their true specialty is pasta.

   • Charles Kingsley:

     Men of boundless knowledge, like Humbold, must have had once their specialty, their pet subject.

2. (obsolete) particularity
   • Shakespeare:

     Specialty of rule hath been neglected.

3. A particular or peculiar case.
4. An attribute or quality peculiar to a species.
5. (law) A contract or obligation under seal; a contract by deed; a writing, under seal, given as security for a debt particularly specified.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bouvier to this entry?)

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wharton (Law Dict.) to this entry?)

   • Shakespeare

     Let specialties be therefore drawn between us.

   • Joseph Chitty

     […] 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 speciality, or to aver that the judgment was recovered before the defendant had notice of the plaintiff's demand […]