Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “specialism” come from?

Specialism comes from English special with the suffix -ism, from Ancient Greek -ισμός attached to -μός, from Latin specialis meaning "of or pertaining to a particular kind," derived from specio meaning "to see or look at."

specialism (English): Speciality; The concentration of one's efforts...

Definitions

  1. Speciality; The concentration of one's efforts...

Ancestry of “specialism”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishspecialDistinguished by a unique or unusual quality; Of...
2Middle Englishspecial—
3Old Frenchespecialspecial; powerful; mighty
4Latinspecialisspecific
5Latinspeciēs—
6Latinspeciō—
7Proto-Italicspekjōto observe, to see
8Proto-Indo-Europeanspéḱyetito be looking at, to keep looking at
9Proto-Indo-Europeanspeḱ-to see, to look, to observe

Words derived from “specialism”

  • subspecialism
Every word from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- →