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Definition of peculiar - 6 dictionary results

pe⋅cu⋅liar

  [pi-kyool-yer]
Use peculiar in a Sentence
–adjective
1. strange; queer; odd: peculiar happenings.
2. uncommon; unusual: the peculiar hobby of stuffing and mounting bats.
3. distinctive in nature or character from others.
4. belonging characteristically (usually fol. by to): an expression peculiar to Canadians.
5. belonging exclusively to some person, group, or thing: the peculiar properties of a drug.
6. Astronomy. designating a star or galaxy with special properties that deviates from others of its spectral type or galaxy class.
–noun
7. a property or privilege belonging exclusively or characteristically to a person.
8. British. a particular parish or church that is exempted from the jurisdiction of the ordinary or bishop in whose diocese it lies and is governed by another.
9. peculiars. Also called arbitraries. British Printing. special characters not generally included in standard type fonts, as phonetic symbols, mathematical symbols, etc.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME; < L pecūliāris as one's own, equiv. to pecūli(um) property (deriv. of pecū flock, farm animals; akin to pecus cattle (see fee )) + -āris -ar 1

Related forms:
pe⋅cu⋅liar⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. eccentric, bizarre. See strange. 2. extraordinary, singular, exceptional. 5. individual, personal, particular, special, unique.

Antonyms:
2, 5. common.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To peculiar
pe·cu·liar   (pĭ-kyōōl'yər)   
adj.  
  1. Unusual or eccentric; odd.
  2. Distinct from all others. See Synonyms at strange.
  3. Belonging distinctively or primarily to one person, group, or kind; special or unique: rights peculiar to the rich; a species peculiar to this area.
n.  
  1. A privilege or property that is exclusively one's own.
  2. Chiefly British A church or parish under the jurisdiction of a diocese different from that in which it lies.

[Middle English peculier, personal, from Latin pecūliāris, from pecūlium, private property; see peku- in Indo-European roots.]
pe·cu'liar·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Peculiar

Pe*cul"iar\, a. [L. peculiaris, fr. peculium private property, akin to pecunia money: cf. OF. peculier. See Pecuniary.]

1. One's own; belonging solely or especially to an individual; not possessed by others; of private, personal, or characteristic possession and use; not owned in common or in participation.

And purify unto himself a peculiar people. --Titus ii. 14.

Hymns . . . that Christianity hath peculiar unto itself. --Hooker.

2. Particular; individual; special; appropriate.

While each peculiar power forgoes his wonted seat. --Milton.

My fate is Juno's most peculiar care. --Dryden.

3. Unusual; singular; rare; strange; as, the sky had a peculiarappearance.

Syn: Peculiar, Special, Especial.

Usage: Peculiar is from the Roman peculium, which was a thing emphatically and distinctively one's own, and hence was dear. The former sense always belongs to peculiar (as, a peculiar style, peculiar manners, etc.), and usually so much of the latter as to involve feelings of interest; as, peculiar care, watchfulness, satisfaction, etc. Nothing of this kind belongs to special and especial. They mark simply the relation of species to genus, and denote that there is something in this case more than ordinary; as, a special act of Congress; especial pains, etc.

Beauty, which, either walking or asleep, Shot forth peculiar graces. --Milton.

For naught so vile that on the earth doth live, But to the earth some special good doth give. --Shak.

Peculiar

Pe*cul"iar\, n. 1. That which is peculiar; a sole or exclusive property; a prerogative; a characteristic.

Revenge is . . . the peculiar of Heaven. --South.

2. (Eng. Canon Law) A particular parish or church which is exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary.

Court of Peculiars (Eng. Law), a branch of the Court of Arches having cognizance of the affairs of peculiars. --Blackstone.

Dean of peculiars. See under Dean, 1.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : peculiar
Spanish: curioso, estraño,
German: eigentümlich,
Japanese: 変った
More Translations »

peculiar 
c.1460, from L. peculiaris "of one's own (property)," from peculium "private property," lit. "property in cattle" (in ancient times the most important form of property), from pecu "cattle, flock," related to pecus "cattle" (see pecuniary). Meaning of "unusual" is first attested 1608; peculiarity "special characteristic" is from 1646; noun meaning "an oddity" is 1777.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Peculiar

as used in the phrase "peculiar people" in 1 Pet. 2:9, is derived from the Lat. peculium, and denotes, as rendered in the Revised Version ("a people for God's own possession"), a special possession or property. The church is the "property" of God, his "purchased possession" (Eph. 1:14; R.V., "God's own possession").

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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