ˈspesh(ə)lə̇st noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: special (I) + -ist
1. : a person who devotes or limits his interest to some special branch (as of an activity, business, art, or science): as
a. : a medical practitioner who limits his practice to a particular class of patients (as children) or of diseases (as skin diseases) or of technique (as surgery) ; usually : a physician who is qualified by advanced training and certification by a specialty examining board to so limit his practice
b. : a member of a stock exchange who concentrates his activity on a single stock or group of stocks traded at the same trading post and by executing orders for other brokers in such stocks as well as trading for his own account helps maintain a continuous market in the issues in question
c. : an enlisted man (as in the United States army) qualified for specialized duties and having a grade ranging from that of a corporal to that of a master sergeant but lacking the rank or command responsibilities of a noncommissioned officer
2. : one that is extremely specialized in some physiologic respect (as in food habits)