Adjacent Words

Peculiar definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PECU'LIAR, a. [L. peculiaris, from peculium, one's own property, from pecus, cattle.]
1. Appropriate; belonging to a person and to him only. Almost every writer has a peculiar style. Most men have manners peculiar to themselves.
2. Singular; particular. The man has something peculiar in his deportment.
3. Particular; special.
My fate is Juno's most peculiar care.
[Most cannot, in strict propriety, be prefixed to peculiar, but it is used to give emphasis to the word.]
4. Belonging to a nation,system or other thing, and not to others.
PECU'LIAR, n. Exclusive property; that which belongs to a person in exclusion of others.
1. In the canon law, a particular parish or church which has the probate of wills within itself, exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary or bishop's court.
Court of peculiars, in England, is a branch of the court of arches. It has jurisdiction over all the parishes dispersed through the province of Canterbury, in the midst of other dioceses, which are exempt from the ordinary jurisdiction, and subject to the metropolitan only.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: beyond or deviating from the usual or expected; "a curious hybrid accent"; "her speech has a funny twang"; "they have some funny ideas about war"; "had an odd name"; "the peculiar aromatic odor of cloves"; "something definitely queer about this town"; "what a rum fellow"; "singular behavior" [syn: curious, funny, odd, peculiar, queer, rum, rummy, singular]
2: unique or specific to a person or thing or category; "the particular demands of the job"; "has a particular preference for Chinese art"; "a peculiar bond of sympathy between them"; "an expression peculiar to Canadians"; "rights peculiar to the rich"; "the special features of a computer"; "my own special chair" [syn: particular, peculiar, special]
3: markedly different from the usual; "a peculiar hobby of stuffing and mounting bats"; "a man...feels it a peculiar insult to be taunted with cowardice by a woman"-Virginia Woolf
4: characteristic of one only; distinctive or special; "the peculiar character of the Government of the U.S."- R.B.Taney

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English peculier, from Latin peculiaris of private property, special, from peculium private property, from pecu cattle; akin to Latin pecus cattle — more at fee Date: 15th century 1. characteristic of only one person, group, or thing ; distinctive 2. different from the usual or normal: a. special, particular b. odd, curious c. eccentric, queer Synonyms: see characteristic, strange • peculiarly adverb II. noun Date: 1562 something exempt from ordinary jurisdiction; especially a church or parish exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary in whose territory it lies

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 strange; odd; unusual (a peculiar flavour; is a little peculiar). 2 a (usu. foll. by to) belonging exclusively (a fashion peculiar to the time). b belonging to the individual (in their own peculiar way). 3 particular; special (a point of peculiar interest). --n. 1 a peculiar property, privilege, etc. 2 a parish or church exempt from the jurisdiction of the diocese in which it lies. Etymology: ME f. L peculiaris of private property f. peculium f. pecu cattle

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you describe someone or something as peculiar, you think that they are strange or unusual, sometimes in an unpleasant way. Mr Kennet has a rather peculiar sense of humour... Rachel thought it tasted peculiar. = odd, strange ADJ • peculiarly His face had become peculiarly expressionless. ADV 2. If something is peculiar to a particular thing, person, or situation, it belongs or relates only to that thing, person, or situation. The problem is by no means peculiar to America. = unique ADJ: oft ADJ to n • peculiarly Cricket is so peculiarly English. ADV

Easton's Bible Dictionary

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").

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pe-kul'-yar: The Latin peculium means "private property," so that "peculiar" properly equals "pertaining to the individual." In modern English the word has usually degenerated into a half-colloquial form for "extraordinary," but in Biblical English it is a thoroughly dignified term for "esp. one's own"; compare the "peculiar treasure" of the king in Ec 2:8 (the King James Version). Hence, "peculiar people" (the King James Version De 14:2, etc.) means a people especially possessed by God and particularly prized by Him. The word in the Old Testament (the King James Version Ex 19:5; De 14:2; 26:18; Ps 135:4; Ec 2:8) invariably represents ceghullah, "property," an obscure word which Septuagint usually rendered by the equally obscure periousios (apparently meaning "superabundant"), which in turn is quoted in Tit 2:14. In Mal 3:17, however, Septuagint has peripoiesis, quoted in 1Pe 2:9. the English Revised Version in the New Testament substituted "own possession" in the two occurrences, but in the Old Testament kept "peculiar" and even extended its use (De 7:6; Mal 3:17) to cover every occurrence of ceghullah except in 1Ch 29:3 ("treasure"). the American Standard Revised Version, on the contrary, has dropped "peculiar" altogether, using "treasure" in 1Ch 29:3; Ec 2:8, and "own possession" elsewhere. the King James Version also has "peculiar commandments" (idios, "particular," the Revised Version (British and American) "several") in The Wisdom of Solomon 19:6, and the Revised Version (British and American) has "peculiar" where the King James Version has "special" in The Wisdom of Solomon 3:14 for eklekte, "chosen out."

Burton Scott Easton

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. That specially pertains, that belongs exclusively, one's own, appropriate, proper. 2. Singular, characteristic, exceptional, rare, striking, unusual, uncommon, eccentric, odd, extraordinary, strange, queer. 3. Special, select, particular, individual, especial, specific.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A mistress.

Moby Thesaurus

aberrant, abnormal, absurd, anomalous, another, appropriate, appropriate to, arbitrary, atypical, bizarre, categorical, characteristic, characterizing, classificational, classificatory, connotative, contrastive, crank, crankish, cranky, crotchety, curious, defining, demonstrative, denominative, denotative, designative, deviant, deviate, deviative, diacritical, diagnostic, differencing, different, differential, differentiative, discriminating, discriminative, distinct, distinctive, distinguished, distinguishing, divergent, divisional, divisionary, dotty, eccentric, else, emblematic, erratic, evidential, exceptional, exhibitive, expressive, extraordinary, fey, figural, figurative, flaky, freaked out, freakish, freaky, funny, identifying, ideographic, idiocratic, idiosyncratic, implicative, in character, indicating, indicative, indicatory, individual, individualizing, individuating, intrinsic, irregular, kinky, kooky, maggoty, marked, meaningful, metaphorical, naming, native to, natural to, not that sort, not the same, not the type, nutty, odd, oddball, of a sort, of another sort, of sorts, off, off the wall, offbeat, ordinal, other, other than, otherwise, out, out-of-the-way, outlandish, particular, passing strange, pathognomonic, personal, personalizing, private, proper, quaint, queer, quintessential, quirky, rare, representative, rum, screwball, screwy, semantic, semiotic, separative, signalizing, significant, significative, signifying, single, singular, sort, special, specific, strange, subdivisional, suggestive, sui generis, symbolic, symbolistic, symbological, symptomatic, symptomatologic, taxonomic, true to form, twisted, typal, typical, uncommon, unconventional, uncustomary, unearthly, unique, unnatural, unorthodox, unusual, wacky, weird, whimsical, wondrous strange