Peculiar

Peculiar

Adjective / Noun · /pɪˈkjuː.li.ər/

Definition

(Adjective) (1) strange, odd, or unusual in a way that is difficult to explain — a peculiar smell; she had a peculiar way of laughing. (2) Belonging exclusively or specifically to a particular person, place, or thing — a custom peculiar to Cornwall; a flavour peculiar to this region. (Noun) (historical/ecclesiastical) a parish or church exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese in which it stands, instead coming under the direct jurisdiction of the Crown or another authority.

Origin

From Latin peculiaris (one's own private property) — from peculium (private property, especially cattle — from pecu, cattle). Peculiar therefore originally meaning one's own — belonging exclusively to a particular individual. The sense of strange developing from the idea that what is exclusively one's own (and therefore unlike others') is unusual or odd. Appearing in English from the mid-sixteenth century, with the strange sense developing from the seventeenth century.