Meaning

noun a special offering (usually temporary and at a reduced price) that is featured in advertising

noun a dish or meal given prominence in e.g. a restaurant

noun a television production that features a particular person or work or topic

originFrom Middle English *special, especial, especiall, from Old French especial (whence also French spécial), from Latin speciālis (from speciēs). In this sense displaced native Old English synderlīċ. Doublet of especial.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0