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Definition of peculiar - 3 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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Bible Dictionary

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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