spearmint (spermint)

[Said to be a corruption of spire - mint, with ref. to the pyramidal inflorescence.] An Spearmint ( Mentha virid is ), upper part of the stem with the inflores a , a flower. cence. speave, v . t . A dialectal form of spayl . specl (spek), n. A colloquial abbreviation of ulation ) , speculation . specet, n. A Middle English form of spice1 . special (spesh'al), a. and n. [ special , spec i all , speciale , specyal , specyalle , special , especial , F. spécial = Pr. special , especial = Sp. especial = Pg. especial = It. speziale , special, special is , 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 . A special idea is called by the schools a species. Watts , Logic, I. iii. § 3. He spek is thus in his spec i all spell, And of this matere makis he mynde. 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 spec i all charge, Ayenst that day that he shuld fight alone. Generydes (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3221. To Eltham will I, where the young king is, Being ordain'd his special governor. Shak., 1 Hen. VI., i. 1. 171. Estate tail special. See estate. - Heir special. See heir. - Special act. See statute . - Special admin i str a- tor, an administrator appointed without full powers of administration, but for some special purpose, as to col- lect and hold a ets and pay urgent debts pending a con- test as to the probate of a will. Also called a temporary administrator , a collector , or an administrator ad colligen- 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 busine , as dist in- guished from a general agent : as, a special agent of the revenue department. - Special anatomy. See anatomy . Special a ignment. See partial a ignment, under partial . - Special bail. See bail2 , 3. - Special bailiff, bastard, case. See the nouns. - Special carrier. See carrier1 , 2.- Special commi ion, in law , a com- mi ion of oyer and terminer i ued by the crown to the ble, contract, damages, demurrer, deposit, edict, homology, hospital, injunction, i ue, 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. Such special logics only exhibit the mode in which a de- terminate matter or object of science, the knowledge of 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. Special orders, paper, partner, plea, pleader, plead- ing, property, providence, retainer, se ions, stat- ute, tail, 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 po e ion, but the entire right of disposal is in the Beneficiary spen Special , Especial , particular , Dec which =Syn. Peculiar , has the same meaning; but especially is for rhythmical reasons (because it occurs most frequently at the begin- ning of a dependent clause, where usually an unaccented 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 general , 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 favor comes very closely home. When we speak of any particular thing, we distinguish it from all others; when we speak of a specific fault in one's character, we name it with exact- ne ; 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. n. 1. A special or particular person or lar. thing. Specifically- (a) A particular thing; a particu- (b) A private companion; a paramour or concubine. Specyal , concubyne, the womann (spec i all or leman). Concubina. Prompt . Parv . , p. 468. Syr Roger of Donkester, That was her owne spec i all . Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode (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 . 3. In biol ., that evolutionary proce whereby parts or organs primitively indifferent or of common character become differentiated in form or function (usually in both); also, the result of such proce 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 expre ed 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 ti ues, com- pared with one another in the same animal or plant, and compared with the corresponding parts, organs, or ti ues 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 , Darwin ism , selec- tion , survival , variation , species , protoplasm , morphology, homology, analogy, heredity, environment , and words of like bearing on the points in question. Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 1. specialisation, specialise. See specialization , specialize . specialism (spesh'al-izm), n. [ special + -ism .] Devotion to a special branch or division of a general subject or pursuit; the characteristic better, is an advantage to each being 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. All specialism of study, one-sidedne of view, and divi- sion of labor is dangerous [according to Comte]. specialist (spesh'al-ist), n. [ special + -ist .] A person who devotes himself to a particular branch of a profe ion, 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. O. W. Holmes, Poet at the Breakfast-table, iii. specialistic (spesh-a-lis'tik), a . [ specialist + -ic .] Of or pertaining to a specialist or spe- cialism. [Recent.] IMG:content-1668.png:[blocks in formation] Lancet, 1889, II. 635.