## Etymology
From special + -ism; special derives from Old French especial, from Latin specialis ('individual, particular'), from species ('kind, sort').

## AI Etymology
Specialism comes from special + -ism; special derives from Old French especial, from Latin specialis ('individual, particular'), from species ('kind, sort'). The historical chain includes Latin specialis and Latin species. The quoted older senses, "individual, particular" and "kind, sort", supply the semantic anchors for specialism. The formation is best read as suffixal and borrowed: the word specialism carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "a particular branch of study or work in which one specializes". Related English forms include special, specialist, specialize, and specialty. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

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- Education & Learning
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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