Is there a difference between "Speciality" and "Specialty"?

Specialty is the word used in American English (the OED reports it's chiefly Northern American), while speciality is used in British English. EnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforlinguists,etymologists,andseriousEnglishlanguageenthusiasts.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Collaborateandshareknowledgewithaprivategroup. CreateafreeTeam WhatisTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore Isthereadifferencebetween"Speciality"and"Specialty"? AskQuestion Asked 10years,6monthsago Active 1year,3monthsago Viewed 80ktimes 27 4 MyworkcolleaguesandIhavebeenhavingadiscussionaboutdoctors(weworkinhealthcare),andwe'resplitdownthemiddleastowhetheraspecialistdoctorwouldhaveaspeciality,oraspecialty(no"i").Isthereaspecificuseforeachword,orcantheybeinterchanged? differencesamerican-englishsynonymsbritish-english Share Improvethisquestion Follow editedSep7'16at16:50 Helmar 5,25077goldbadges2929silverbadges6565bronzebadges askedMay17'11at15:45 KarlNicollKarlNicoll 40311goldbadge44silverbadges77bronzebadges 1 IwasfacedwiththesamedilemmawhenputtingtogethermyCV.IthennoticedthattheonlinedatabaseoftranslatorshousedonthewebsiteofTheCharteredInstituteofLinguists(ofwhichIamamember)usedanotherwordaltogether:'specialisms'-andIeventuallydecidedtogowiththat. – TheAdvocate Sep7'16at14:12 Addacomment  |  5Answers 5 Active Oldest Votes 17 Thereseemstobedivergenceonthatpoint:SeeWikipedia.Othersseemtothinksoaswell. IsuspectthatspecialtyisAmericanEnglishandspecialityisBritishEnglish. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedJun30'15at11:34 apaderno 57.1k7171goldbadges205205silverbadges321321bronzebadges answeredMay17'11at15:49 CalvinFisherCalvinFisher 41011goldbadge44silverbadges99bronzebadges 1 ThisresourcehassomeniceexamplesofBrEvsAmEusageinthepress. – James Mar5'15at15:38 Addacomment  |  13 SpecialtyisthewordusedinAmericanEnglish(theOEDreportsit'schieflyNorthernAmerican),whilespecialityisusedinBritishEnglish. Inmedicine(asforwhatreportedbytheOED)bothspecialtyandspecialityareused. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredMay17'11at15:50 apadernoapaderno 57.1k7171goldbadges205205silverbadges321321bronzebadges 1 4 IcanconfirmthatinUKhospitals,consultantsrefertotheirSpecialtyratherthanSpeciality-IknowthisbecauseI"helpfully"spellcheckedtheuserinterfaceforanNHScomputerapplication,andthenlaterhadtorevertitwhentheyallcomplained! – JamesMcCormack Jun30'15at10:45 Addacomment  |  5 It'sstandardUSmedicaleditingpracticetochangeinstancesof"specialities"to"specialties."Notethecertifyingagency:AmericanBoardofMedicalSpecialties. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredMay17'11at18:09 TheRavenTheRaven 12.4k2828silverbadges5050bronzebadges Addacomment  |  2 There'sagoodexplanationofthedifferencehere. InadditiontotheregionaldifferencesamongEnglish-speakingnations,itpointsoutthat'specialty'ismorecommonlyusedasanadjective;'speciality'asanoun. AsanativespeakerofBritishEnglish,thisisthedistinctionImake. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredAug1'20at8:44 LeonConradLeonConrad 3,79922goldbadges1313silverbadges2424bronzebadges 0 Addacomment  |  1 Ideally,bothofthemmeanthesamething.Theusageistheonlydifference.Likeprioritiseandprioritize. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedJan5'12at8:07 user11550 answeredJan5'12at5:53 EnthuDeveloperEnthuDeveloper 41322silverbadges44bronzebadges Addacomment  |  Highlyactivequestion.Earn10reputation(notcountingtheassociationbonus)inordertoanswerthisquestion.Thereputationrequirementhelpsprotectthisquestionfromspamandnon-answeractivity. Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggeddifferencesamerican-englishsynonymsbritish-englishoraskyourownquestion. FeaturedonMeta Nowlive:Afullyresponsiveprofile Reducingtheweightofourfooter Linked 12 Why"sovereignty"insteadof"sovereignity"? 3 Expertiseandspeciality 0 Whatiscalledaspecialacademicsubjectthatispursuedbypostgraduatesafterbachelordegree? 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