specialise

Less common meanings

4. 4
   verbraretransitive

   To make something narrower in scope.

   He is at moſt a confuſed and wild Chriſtian, not ſpecialized by any form, but capable of all.

   1628, John Earle, Micro-Cosmography

   Similarnarrow, restrict, limit

   Oppositebroaden, widen, expand

5. 5
   be known forverbderogatoryintransitive

   To be known, or notorious, for a particular habit or kind of thing; usually said disapprovingly.

   The council appears to specialise in roadworks that never seem to end.

   The tabloid specialises in stories that fall apart within a week.

   UsageIronic or teasing, with in + a bad habit: a council that specialises in delays is being criticised, not praised.

   Note

   Here the verb turns the business meaning against its subject: a firm that specialises in delays is hardly proud of them. The joke depends on the idea of a chosen speciality, so the use belongs to complaints, reviews and teasing rather than to neutral description.

6. 6
   verbraretransitive

   To name or mention something specifically, so that there is no doubt which is meant.

   Our Sauiour specialising and nominating the places in which these false prophets should teach his presence to be.

   1616, Richard Sheldon, A Survey of the Miracles of the Church of Rome

   Similarspecify, name

   Note

   This rare sense sits close to specify and shows its age: Richard Sheldon, writing against the Church of Rome in 1616, pairs it with nominating when he speaks of "specialising and nominating the places". Today specify, or simply name, does this work. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • The cited work was published in 1616. centreculturelirlandais.com
   • Sheldon's work attacks the Church of Rome's claims about miracles. centreculturelirlandais.com
   • Richard Sheldon uses the quoted wording, pairing specialising with nominating. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   verbobsoleteintransitive

   To go into particular details instead of speaking in general terms.

   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.

   1613, George Wither, “The Scourge”

   Note

   An obsolete use for going into detail, found in George Wither's The Scourge, whose lines advise lashing the great "in generall" and not specialising: keeping the satire's blows general rather than going into particulars. A modern reader would hear the modern study meaning here, so in older texts it helps to remember that the word once meant getting down to specifics, not narrowing a career. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • The word formerly meant going into specific details, a sense now labelled obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
   • Wiktionary attributes the historical example to George Wither's The Scourge. en.wiktionary.org
   • The lines advise lashing the great in general terms and avoiding particulars. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   verbrare

   To train someone until they are skilled in a particular specialty.

   "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.

   1981, Andrea L. Loewenstein, “Voices in the Night”