spearmint 
aromatic plant, Mnilliu rii-iilix, the common gar- 
den-mint, or mint proper, it is known chiefly in 
gardens, or as an escape from them, in both hemispheres, 
and is suspected to be a garden or accidental variety of 
M. gi/leestrii. Its properties are those of peppermint, and 
it yields an oil like that of the latter, but with a more 
pleasant flavor. Spirit Of spearmint. See spirit. 
spear-nail (sper'nal), H. A form of nail with a 
spear-shaped point. 
spear-plate (sper'plat). n. Same as 
spear-thistle (sper'this"!), . See tltixt/i: 
spear-widgeon (sper'wij'on), . 1. The red- 
breasted merganser, Mergits serrator. Also 
called xlielditcl: 2. The goosander, Mergus 
Hicri/HHHcr. [Irish in both uses.] 
spearwood (sper'wiid), n. One of two Austra- 
lian trees, Eucalyptus Doratoxi/lou in the south- 
west, and Acacia Doratoxylon in the interior, or 
the wood of the same, sought by the natives for 
spear-shafts. 
spearwort (sper'wert), n. [< ME. spereworte, 
x/xr>'wurt,< AS. spercwyrt,< spere. spear, + wyrt, 
wort: see spear* and worfl.'] The name of 
several species of crowfoot or Ranunculus .witti 
lance-shaped leaves. K. Lingua, the greater spear- 
wort, is found in Europe and temperate Asia ; R. Flam- 
mula, the lesser spearwort (also called banewort), through 
the north temperate zone ; R. ophioijlossifoliwt, the snake's- 
tongue or adder's-tongue spearwort, in southwestern Eu- 
rope ; Ji. amtigens (11. alisma:foUus\ the water-plantain 
spearwort, in North America. 
speat, . Same as spate. 
speave, *>. t. A dialectal form of spay 1 . 
spec 1 (spek), /(. A colloquial abbreviation of 
speculation. 
They said what a wery gen'rous thing it was o' them to 
have taken up the case on spec, and to charge nothing at 
all for costs unless they got 'em out of Mr. Pickwick. 
Dickens, Pickwick, xxxiv. 
Spec. 2 In not. Jiist., an abbreviation of speci- 
men : with a plural specs., sometimes specc. 
Compare sp. 
special (spesh'al), a. and n. [< ME. special, 
speciall, specials, specyal, specyalle, < OF. special, 
especial, F. special = Pr. special, especial = Sp. 
especial = Pg. especial = It. speziale, special. < 
L. specialis, belonging to a species, particular, 
< species, kind, species: see species. Doublet, 
especial. ] I. a. 1 . Of or pertaining to a spe- 
cies or sort ; of a particular kind or character ; 
distinct from other kinds ; specifically charac- 
teristic. 
Crist ! kepe us out of harme and hate, 
For thin hooli spirit so special. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 57. 
A special idea is called by the schools a species. 
Watts, Logic, I. iii. 3. 
A certain order of artistic culture should be adopted, 
answering to the order of development of the special sen- 
sibilities and faculties concerned. 
J. Sully, Outlines of Psychol., p. 553. 
2. Of or pertaining to one or more of a kind ; 
peculiar to an individual or a set ; not general ; 
particular; individual. 
He spekis thus in his speciall spell, 
And of this matere makis he mynde. 
York Plays, p. 471. 
For the question in hand, whether the commandments 
of God in Scripture be general or special, it skilleth not. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, iii. 7. 
The special charm of Oxford for Shelley lay in the com- 
parative freedom of the student's life. 
E. Dowden, Shelley, I. 56. 
3. Peculiar or distinct of the kind; of excep- 
tional character, amount, degree, or the like; 
especially distinguished; express; particular. 
Tnei suffre no Cristene man entre in to that Place, but 
zif it be of specyalle grace of the Soudan. 
Mandemlle, Travels, p. 66. 
Can such things be, 
And overcome us like a summer's cloud, 
Without our special wonder ? 
" 't., Macbeth, iii. 4. 112. 
5805 
Estate tall special. See estate. Heir special. See 
Imr. Special act. See statute. Special administra- 
tor, an administrator appointed without full powers of 
Idmlnlltratlon, but for some special purpose, as to col- 
lect and hold assets and pay urgent debts pending :i con- 
test as to the probate of a will. Also called a i< /,/,/, 
administrator, a collector, or an administrator ad tSUgtn. 
dum. Special agent, an agent authorized to transact 
in the service or interest of his principal only a particu- 
lar transaction or a particular kind of business, as distin- 
guished from a general agent : as, a special ayent of the 
revenue department. -Special anatomy. Sn anatomy. 
Special assignment. Sue -lairtml am'/ninrnt. under 
part, id. -Special ball. See bail?, 3. Special bailiff 
Dastard, case. See the nouns. Special carrier' 
See rarrieri, 2. Special commission, in lau; a com- 
mission of oyer and terminer issued by the crown to the 
judges for the trial of specified cases. Special consta- 
ble, contract, damages, demurrer, deposit, edict, 
nomology, hospital, injunction, issue, jury, license 
etc. See the nouns. Special linear complex, the ag- 
gregate of all the lines of space that cut a given line. 
Special logic, the rules for thinking concerning a certain 
kind of objects. 
which is presupposed, must be treated, the conditions 
which regulate the certainty of inferences in that matter, 
and the methods by which our knowledge of it may be 
constructed into a scientific whole. 
Sir W. Hamilton, Logic, iii. 
Special orders, paper, partner, plea, pleader, plead- 
ing, property, providence, retainer, sessions, stat- 
ute, tall, verdict, etc. See the nouns. Special trust 
an active trust ; a trust which involves specific duties on 
the part of the trustee, as distinguished from a general or 
naked trust, in which he holds only a legal title and it may 
be possession, but the entire right of disposal Is in the 
beneficiary. = Syn. Special, Especial, Particular, Peculiar, 
Specific. Special is more common than especial, which 
has the same meaning; but especially is for rhythmical 
specialize 
'. x/iiriitlitrit = (i. x/it't-iulittit = Sw. 
Dun. x/irriu/i/,-1), < ],. s/ifi-iiilitad-),*, particular- 
ity, peculiarity, < xjn-rinlix. |>arti<-ular. *\ 
*!! .l/ll'l'illl. ( ']'. x/ll rillltl/. II llllllllll-t of X/lfl'illl- 
</!/. as )>i i:oiiiillt/, nii/li/, dr.. an of /n rminiil. 
ilil, militi/, etc.] 1. A special characteristic 
or attribute ; a distinctive feature, property. ,,r 
quality; a condition orcimnnstaiicr especially 
dtetingniBhing a class or an individual, (i,, this 
abstract sense speciality is preferable to the form xj/ecialtv, 
on the analogy of ;/.:., nnl/i,/, militii. and other words i'il 
similar tenor as related to pertiiiniliu, nnltii, etc. The 
distinction, so far as it exists, is accidental; the synco- 
pated form, in these pairs, is more vernacular, the full 
form more recent and artificial. | 
It is the speciality of all vice to be selfishly indifferent 
to the injurious consequences of our actions, even ... to 
those nearest to us. F. P. Ctibbe, Peak in Dariea. p. 32. 
The specialities of nature, chiefly mental, which we see 
produced, . . . must be ascribed almost wholly to direct 
equilibration. H. Spencer, Prin. of Biol., 170. 
2. A special matter or thing ; a characteristic 
or distinctive object, pursuit, diversion, opera- 
tion, product, or the like ; a specialty. See spe- 
nnlll/, 6. 
The speciality of the sport was to see how some for bis 
slackness had a good bob with the hag. 
Laneham, quoted in Strait's Sports and Pastimes, p. 191. 
The small State of Rhode Island, whose speciality has al- 
ways been the manufacture of ordnance. 
Comte de Paris, Civil War in America (trans.), I. 187. 
specialization (spesVal-i-za'shon), w. [< .-/- 
cialize + -ation.] 1. The act or process of spe- 
cializing; a making or fixing of special differ- 
ences or requirements ; differentiation. 
particle occurs, and where, therefore, a word with an ac- 
cent on the first syllable is instinctively avoided) much 
more common than specially. The special comes under 
the aeneral, as the particular comes under the special. A 
special favor is one that is more than ordinary ; a particu- 
lar favor is still more remarkable ; a peculiar i avor comes 
very closely home. When we speak of any particular 
thing, we distinguish it from all others ; when we speak 
It is a fair and sensible paper, not of special originality 
or brilliancy. O. W. Holmes, Emerson, i. 
Other groups of phenomena require special study. 
4. Specifically, limited as to function, opera- 
tion, or purpose ; designed for specific applica- 
tion or service ; acting for a limited time or in 
a restricted manner; not general of the kind 
named: as, special legislation; special plead- 
ing; a special agent, constable, or correspon- 
dent ; special employment ; a special dictionary. 
Too all his ost he gave a speciall charge, 
Ayenst that day that he shuld fight alone. 
Generydes (E. E. T. S.), 1. 82-21. 
To Eltham will I, where the young king is, 
Being ordain'd his special governor. 
5Aa*., 1 Hen. VI., i. 1. 171. 
ness ; a. special law is one that is made for a particular pur- 
pose or a peculiar case ; a specific law is either one that we 
name exactly or one that names offenses, etc., exactly. 
II. . 1. A special or particular person or 
thing. Specifically (a) A particular thing; a particu- 
Thir 's all the specials I of speake. 
Raid of the Reidsurirc (Child's Ballads, VI. 138). 
(6t) A private companion ; a paramour or concubine. 
Speci/al, concubyne, the womann (speciall or leman). 
Concnbina. Prompt. Pare., p. 488. 
Syr Roger of Donkester, 
That was her owne speciall. 
LyteU Qeste of Robijn Hade (Child's Ballads, V. 123). 
2. A person or thing appointed or set apart for 
a special purpose or occasion, as a constable, a 
railway-train, an examination, a dispatch, etc. : 
as, they traveled by special to Chicago ; the spe- 
cials were called out to quell the riot. 
What are known as specials are being held this week. 
These are for men who partially failed at the last regular 
examinations. Lancet, 1890, II. 796. 
In special, in a special manner; especially; particularly 
[Obsolete or archaic.] 
Se that thow in special 
Requere noght that is ageyns hire nam. 
Chaucer, Troilus, i. 901. 
But yf vertue and nurture were withe alle ; 
To yow therfore I speke in specyalle. 
Baoees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 1. 
specialisation, specialise. See specialization, 
specialize. 
specialism (spesh'al-izm), n. [< special + -iswi.] 
Devotion to a special branch or division of a 
general subject or pursuit; the characteristic 
pursuit or theme of a specialist; restriction to 
a specialty. [Recent.] 
Special hospitals and specialism in medical practice are 
in danger of being carried too far. Lancet, 1889, II. 1049. 
AH specialism of study, one-sldedness of view, and divi- 
sion of labor is dangerous [according to Comte]. 
N. A. Ren., CXX. 259. 
specialist (spesh'al-ist), M. L 
A person who devotes himseL ,, ^.uuuuiiu 
branch of a profession, science, or art ; one who 
has a special knowledge of some particular 
subject: thus, ophthalmologists, neurologists, 
or gynecologists are specialists in medicine. 
Specialists are the coral-insects that build up a reef. 
0. W. Holmes, Poet at the Breakfast-table, iii. 
specialistic (spesh-a-lis'tik), a. [< specialist 
+ -zc.] Of or pertaining to a specialist or spe- 
cialism. [Recent.] 
The learned specialistic mind takes in the facts of one or 
two creeds or departments. Athenaeum, No. 3273, p. 87. 
speciality (spesh-i-al'i-ti), .; pi. specialities 
(-tiz). [< OF. specialite, especialite, F. specia- 
lit(' = Sp. especial/dad = Pg. esperialirtmle = It. 
[< special + -ist.] 
elf to a particular 
ration is that which separates what a man ought to do 
from what he ought to know. 
Maine, Early Law and Custom, p. 18. 
2. The state of being or becoming specialized ; 
a condition of fixed or developed differentiation, 
as of parts, organs, or individuals, with refer- 
ence to form, appearance, function, etc. 
That there is [in women] ... a mental specialization 
joined with the bodily specialization is undeniable ; and 
this mental specialization, though primarily related to the 
rearing of offspring, affects in some degree the conduct at 
large- H. Spencer, Study of Sociol., p. 375. 
3. In biol., that evolutionary process wherebv 
parts or organs primitively indifferent or of 
common character become differentiated in 
form or function (usually in both); also, the 
result of such process or course of develop- 
ment; adaptive modification. The most exact 
synonym is differentiation (which see). It is common to 
say differentiation of structure, but specialization of func- 
tion, giving to the former word a morphological and to 
the latter a physiological significance. Since, however 
change of form almost always implies change in use of 
the parts thus modified in adaptation to different pur- 
poses, the two words come to the same thing in the end, 
and may be interchanged. The whole course of biological 
evolution is from the most general to some particular 
form and function, or from that which is simple, primi- 
tive, indifferent, and low in the scale of organization to 
that which is a complex of particulars and thus highly 
organized. Such specialization is expressed both in the 
structure of any of the higher animals and plants, regarded 
as wholes to be compared with other wholes, and in the 
structure of their several parts, organs, or tissues, com- 
pared with one another in the same animal or plant, and 
compared with the correspondingparts, organs, or tissues 
in different animals and plants. The actual ways in which 
or means by which specialization is known or supposed 
to be effected are among the broadest problems in biology. 
See biological matter under evolution, Darwinism, selec- 
tion, survival, variation, species, protoplasm, morphology, 
homoloay, analogy, heredity, environment, and words of 
like bearing on the points in question. 
All physiologists admit that the specialization of organs 
inasmuch as they perform in this state their functions 
better, is an advantage to each being. 
Darwin, Origin of Species, p. 122. 
This [frizzly] character of hair must be a specialization, 
for it seems very unlikely that it was the attribute of the 
common ancestors of the human race. 
W. H. Flower, Pop. Sci. Mo., XXVIII. 320. 
Also spelled specialisation. 
specialize (spesh'al-iz), i?.; pret. and pp. spe- 
cialized, ppr. specializing. [= F. special* ser ; 
as special + -ize.'} I. trans, 1. To make indi- 
vidually or generically special or distinct ; make 
specifically distinct; differentiate from other 
kinds in form, adaptation, or characteristics, 
as by a process of physical development ; limit 
to a particular kind of development, action, or 
use. See specialization, 3. 
The sensitiveness of the filaments [of Dionxa Muscipula] 
is of a specialised nature, being related to a momentary 
touch rather than to prolonged pressure. 
Darwin, Insectiv. Plants, p. 292. 
The eye is a highly specialized organ, admirably adapt- 
ed for the important function which it fulfils. 
Stokes, Light, p. 90. 
Prudence may be said to be merely Wisdom specialized 
by the definite acceptance of Self-interest as its sole ulti- 
mate end. H. Sidawick, Methods of Ethics, p. S04 
