懂中文 Dong Chinese

特

tè

special

Original meaning: 

bull

Phonosemantic compound. 牛 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bull". The meaning later shifted to "prominent" and "special".

Components
牛 meaning component

牛  Meaning component

niú

  

cow

寺 sound component

寺  Sound component

sì

  

temple

Evolution

特 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
特 Clerical script Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical script

Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
特 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
特 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
特 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

特  

tè

special, unique, distinguished; special; unique; distinguished; especially; unusual; very; abbr. for 特克斯[tè​kè​sī], tex

Most common words with 特
Freq.
Word
Meaning

特别

especially

特

special

特殊

special

特点

trait

模特

(fashion) model (loanword)