specialty

Noun

specialty (plural specialties)

1. (Australia, Canada, US) That in which one specializes; a chosen expertise or talent; bailiwick.
   • Near-synonym: discipline
   • medical specialty

   Synonyms:

   specialism, department

2. (Australia, Canada, US) A product that originates in and is characteristic of a place.
   • regional specialty
   • house specialty
3. (Australia, Canada, US, obsolete) Particularity.
   • The specialty of rule hath been neglected:
     And, look, how many Grecian tents do stand
     Hollow upon this plain, so many hollow factions.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
4. (Australia, Canada, US) A particular or peculiar case.
5. (Australia, Canada, US) An attribute or quality peculiar to a species.
6. (Australia, Canada, US) A contract or obligation under seal; a contract by deed; a writing, under seal, given as security for a debt particularly specified.
   • Let specialties be therefore drawne betweene vs,
     That couenants may be kept on either hand.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
   • […] 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 specialty, or to aver that the judgment was recovered before the defendant had notice of the plaintiff’s demand.1812, Joseph Chitty, A Treatise on Pleading, with a Collection of Practical Precedents, and Notes Thereon, 2nd American edition, edited by Thomas Day, New York, Volume 2, section 456, note c