especially

English

Alternative forms

• esp., esp (abbreviation)
• esp, espc (Internet slang)

Etymology

From especial +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈspɛʃ.(ə.)li/, /əˈspɛʃ.(ə.)li/, /ɛsˈpɛʃ.(ə.)li/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (nonstandard, proscribed) IPA^(key): /ɛkˈspɛʃ.(ə.)li/

Adverb

especially (comparative more especially, superlative most especially)

1. (manner) In a special manner; specially.

   He got up early especially.

   • 1944 July and August, Railway Magazine, page 233, photo caption:

     L.N.E.R. class "Y6" 3 ft. 1 in. 0-4-0 steam tram locomotive No. 7133
     This locomotive, constructed at the Stratford works of the former Great Eastern Railway in 1897, was one of six which were built between 1883 and 1897 especially to work the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway.

2. (focus) Particularly; to a greater extent than is normal.
   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page viii:

     There is now such an immense "microliterature" on hepatics that, beyond a certain point I have given up trying to integrate (and evaluate) every minor paper published—especially narrowly floristic papers.

3. (focus) Used to place greater emphasis upon someone or something.

   Invite them all, especially Molly.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Captain Edward Carlisle […] felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, […]; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.

   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page viii:

     There is now such an immense "microliterature" on hepatics that, beyond a certain point I have given up trying to integrate (and evaluate) every minor paper published—especially narrowly floristic papers.

Synonyms

• (special manner):
• (particularly): in particular; see also Thesaurus:specifically
• (emphasis): first and foremost; see also Thesaurus:above all

Related terms

• especial
• special
• specialist
• specialty
• 'specially

Translations

particularly

• Albanian: sidomos (sq)
• Arabic: خُصُوصًا (ḵuṣūṣan), خَاصَّةً (ḵāṣṣatan), وَلَا سِيَّمَا (walā siyyamā)
• Armenian: հատկապես (hy) (hatkapes)
• Azerbaijani: xüsusən (az), xüsusilə (az), ələlxüsus (az), özəlliklə
• Bashkir: айырыуса (ayırıwsa), бигерәк тә (bigerək tə)
• Belarusian: асаблі́ва (asablíva)
• Bulgarian: осо́бено (bg) (osóbeno)
• Catalan: sobretot (ca), especialment (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 特別／特别 (zh) (tèbié), 尤其 (zh) (yóuqí)

• Czech: obzvlášť
• Danish: særligt, specielt, især
• Dutch: vooral (nl), in het bijzonder
• Esperanto: precipe (eo)
• Estonian: eriliselt, eriti (et)
• Finnish: erityisesti (fi), varsinkin (fi), etenkin (fi)
• French: spécialement (fr), particulièrement (fr), surtout (fr), en particulier (fr)
• Galician: especialmente (gl)
• German: besonders (de), extra (de)
• Gothic: 𐌸𐌹𐍃𐌷𐌿𐌽 (þishun)
• Greek: ειδικά (el) (eidiká)

  Ancient: ἄλλως τε καί (állōs te kaí)

• Hindi: ख़ास तौर पर (xās taur par)
• Hungarian: különösen (hu), főleg (hu), főként (hu), főképp (hu)
• Icelandic: sérstaklega (is)
• Indonesian: lebih-lebih (id)
• Ingrian: erittee
• Irish: go háirithe, go mór mór
• Italian: specialmente (it), soprattutto (it), specie (it)
• Japanese: とりわけ (ja) (toriwake), 特に (ja) (toku ni), なかんずく (ja) (nakanzuku)
• Korean: 특히 (ko) (teukhi), 특별히 (ko) (teukbyeolhi)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بەتایبەتی (betaybetî)

  Northern Kurdish: bi taybetî (ku)

• Latin: maxime (la), apprime, praesertim
• Luxembourgish: besonnesch
• Maori: inarā
• Norman: supareillement (Guernsey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: særlig (no), i særdeleshet, spesielt (no)

  Nynorsk: spesielt

• Occitan: mai que mai, subretot (oc)
• Old English: swīþost
• Persian: مخصوصاً (fa) (maxsusan), بالاخص (bel-axas), به خصوص (be xosus), خصوصا (fa) (xosusan), به ویژه (be viže), علی‌الخصوص (alal-xosus)
• Polish: szczególnie (pl), zwłaszcza (pl), w szczególności (pl)
• Portuguese: especialmente (pt), sobretudo (pt)
• Romanian: mai ales
• Russian: осо́бенно (ru) (osóbenno)
• Scots: maistly
• Serbo-Croatian: posebice (sh), osobito (sh), naročito (sh)
• Slovene: posébej
• Spanish: especialmente (es), sobre todo, máxime (es), más (es)
• Swedish: särskilt (sv), speciellt (sv)
• Telugu: ప్రత్యేకించి (pratyēkiñci)
• Turkish: özellikle (tr)
• Ukrainian: особли́во (osoblývo)
• Urdu: خاص طور پر (xās taur par)
• Vietnamese: nhất là (vi), đặc biệt là
• Zazaki: xısusen

in a special manner

• Belarusian: асаблі́ва (asablíva)
• Catalan: especialment (ca)
• Dutch: speciaal (nl)
• Finnish: erityisesti (fi)
• French: spécialement (fr)
• German: speziell (de), außergewöhnlich (de), originell (de)
• Gothic: 𐌿𐍃𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌳𐍉 (ussindō)
• Icelandic: sérstaklega (is)
• Irish: go speisealta
• Italian: appositamente (it)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بەشێوەیەکی تایبەتی (beşêweyekî taybetî)

• Norwegian: spesielt (no)
• Polish: szczególnie (pl)
• Portuguese: especialmente (pt)
• Romanian: în special, în mod special
• Russian: осо́бенно (ru) (osóbenno)
• Spanish: especialmente (es), máxime (es)
• Telugu: మరీ ముఖ్యంగా (marī mukhyaṅgā)
• Ukrainian: особли́во (osoblývo)
• Zazaki: bağseta

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} specialmente
• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} najmä
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} đặc biệt là

See also

• esp