Origin: 1250–1300; Middle English < Old French estrange < Latin extrāneus;see extraneous
Related forms
strange·ly, adverb
un·strange, adjective
un·strange·ly, adverb
un·strange·ness, noun
Synonyms 1. bizarre, singular, abnormal, anomalous. Strange,peculiar,odd,queer refer to that which is out of the ordinary. Strange implies that the thing or its cause is unknown or unexplained; it is unfamiliar and unusual: a strange expression. That which is peculiar mystifies, or exhibits qualities not shared by others: peculiar behavior. That which is odd is irregular or unconventional, and sometimes approaches the bizarre: an odd custom. Queer sometimes adds to odd the suggestion of something abnormal and eccentric: queer in the head. 6. aloof.
late 13c., "from elsewhere, foreign, unknown, unfamiliar," from O.Fr. estrange (Fr. étrange) "foreign, alien," from L. extraneus "foreign, external," from extra "outside of" (see extra). Sense of "queer, surprising" is attested from late 14c. Stranger, attested from
late 14c., never picked up the secondary sense of the adj. As a form of address to an unknown person, it is recorded from 1817, Amer.Eng. rural colloq. Meaning "one who has stopped visiting" is recorded from 1530.