specialization
Americannoun
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the act of specializing, or pursuing a particular line of study or work.
Medical students with high student loans often feel driven into specialization.
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Biology. the adaptation of an organism or organ to a special function or environment.
Basic biology suggests the selective pressures leading to convergent evolutionary specialization among desert-dwelling species.
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the act of being restricted to some specific, or the act of becoming specialized.
Other Word Forms
- despecialization noun
- nonspecialization noun
- subspecialization noun
- superspecialization noun
Etymology
Origin of specialization
Explanation
If you have a specialization, that means you focus on a specific aspect of a larger topic. If you’re a nurse, your specialization might be pediatric care, which means you focus on providing care to infants and children. You probably notice that the word special makes up a big part of specialization, which can help you remember its meaning. Your specialization is your special subject or skill. If you’re planning on studying biology in college, your advisor eventually will ask what your area of specialization will be. When you graduate, you’ll know a lot about biology in general, but there’ll be a particular area — such as marine biology or rodent reproduction — that you studied deeply.
Vocabulary lists containing specialization
The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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Cell Biology - Middle School
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Cell Biology - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They play a vital role in basic biological functions, including cell growth and specialization.
From Science Daily • Mar. 2, 2026
It prevents true specialization, limits the impact of technology, and produces backlogs we should not sustain,” Sriubus wrote in a memo, according to the Federal News Network report.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 20, 2026
With that specialization also came espresso beverages—the flat whites, cappuccinos, and Americanos that now make up the baseline menu for most coffee shops.
From Slate • Dec. 22, 2025
Some of the students are seeking careers as actors, among other entertainment-related pursuits, making the minor a sensible specialization.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2025
That kind of specialization would be the key to managing the increasingly complex nature of aeronautical research in the postwar era.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
