peculiar

English

Etymology

From Latin pecūliāris (“one's own”), from pecūlium (“private property”), from pecus (“cattle”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɪˈkjuː.li.ə/, /pəˈkjuː.li.ə/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /pɪˈkjul.jɚ/, /pəˈkjul.jɚ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /pɪˈkjʉː.li.ə/

Adjective

peculiar (comparative more peculiar, superlative most peculiar)

1. Out of the ordinary; odd; strange; unusual.

   Synonyms: odd, strange, uncommon, unusual

   Antonyms: common, mediocre, ordinary, usual

   The sky had a peculiar appearance before the storm.

   It would be rather peculiar to see a kangaroo hopping down a city street.

   • 1800, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Deseret Weekly, volume 41, page 379:

     I saw nothing peculiar in his conduct, and thought that his arrangement of the ballot box was perfect.

   • 2001, Jack Schaefer, Wendell Minor, Shane:

     "Wasn't it peculiar," I heard mother say, "How he wouldn't talk about himself?"
     "Peculiar?" said father. "Well, yes, in a way."
     "Everything about him is peculiar." Mother sounded as if she was stirred up and interested. "I never saw a man quite like him before."

   • 2008, Stephen Arnott, Peculiar Proverbs: Weird Words of Wisdom from Around the World:
2. Common or usual for a certain place or circumstance; specific or particular.

   Synonym: specific

   Antonyms: common, general, universal

   Kangaroos are peculiar to Australia.

   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Great Love of His Native Country. ”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. , volume II, London: Benj Motte, , →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page 262:

     And it was peculiar in their Temper, that they were fonder of what they could get by Rapine or Stealth at a greater diſtance, than much better Food provided for them at home.

   • 1855, Meiklejohn, John Miller Dow, transl., Critique of Pure Reason, volume 1, division 2, translation of Critik der reinen Vernunft by Immanuel Kant:

     This philosopher found his ideas especially in all that is practical,^[29] that is, which rests upon freedom, which in its turn ranks under cognitions that are the peculiar product of reason.

   • 1863, Thomas Huxley, Collected Essays:

     As soon as that operation has taken place, the food is passed down to the stomach, and there it is mixed with the chemical fluid called the gastric juice, a substance which has the peculiar property of making soluble and dissolving out the nutritious matter in the grass, and leaving behind those parts which are not nutritious;

   • 1895, Alfred Russel Wallace, “XX: Anomalous Islands: Celebes”, in Island Life:

     But of late years extensive Tertiary deposits of Miocene age have been discovered, showing that it is not a mere congeries of volcanoes; it [Iceland] is connected with the British Islands and with Greenland by seas less than 500 fathoms deep; and it possesses a few mammalia, one of which is peculiar, and at least three peculiar species of birds.

3. (dated) One's own; belonging solely or especially to an individual; not shared or possessed by others.
   • 1769, King James Bible, Titus ii. 14:

     Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

   • 1597, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie:

     hymns […] that Christianity hath peculiar unto itself

4. (dated) Particular; individual; special; appropriate.
   • 1629, John Milton, On the Morning of Christ's Nativity:

     while each peculiar power forgoes his wonted seat

   • 1697, Dryden, John, transl., Aeneid, translation of Aeneis by Virgil:

     My fate is Juno's most peculiar care.

Synonyms

• (out of the ordinary): see also Thesaurus:strange
• (common or usual in a particular place or circumstance): see also Thesaurus:specific

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "out of the ordinary"): see also Thesaurus:normal
• (antonym(s) of "common or usual in a particular place or circumstance"): see also Thesaurus:generic

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

peculiar (plural peculiars)

1. That which is peculiar; a sole or exclusive property; a prerogative; a characteristic.
   • before 1716, Robert South, Twelve Sermons

     If anything can legalize revenge, it should be injury from an extremely obliged person; but revenge is so absolutely the peculiar of heaven.

2. (UK, canon law) an ecclesiastical district, parish, chapel or church outside the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese in which it is situated.

See also

• peculiar on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Peculiar in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

References

Anagrams

• pericula

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pecūliāris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

peculiar m or f (masculine and feminine plural peculiars)

1. peculiar

Derived terms

• peculiarment

Related terms

• peculiaritat

Further reading

• “peculiar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “peculiar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “peculiar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “peculiar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pecūliāris.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pe‧cu‧li‧ar

Adjective

peculiar m or f (plural peculiares)

1. peculiar; unusual; strange

   Synonyms: esquisito, estranho

2. peculiar (common or usual for a particular place or circumstance)

   Synonym: particular

Related terms

• peculiaridade

Further reading

• “peculiar” in iDicionário Aulete.
• “peculiar” in Dicionário inFormal.
• “peculiar” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “peculiar” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024.
• “peculiar” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
• “peculiar” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pecūliāris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pekuˈljaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: pe‧cu‧liar

Adjective

peculiar m or f (masculine and feminine plural peculiares)

1. peculiar

Derived terms

Further reading

• “peculiar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014