Etymology From Latin pecūliāris (“one's own”), from pecūlium (“private property”), from pecus (“cattle”).
1
Out of the ordinary; odd; strange; unusual.
The sky had a peculiar appearance before the storm.
It would be rather peculiar to see a kangaroo hopping down a city street.
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I saw nothing peculiar in his conduct, and thought that his arrangement of the ballot box was perfect.1800, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Deseret Weekly, volume 41, page 379:
"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."2001, Jack Schaefer, Wendell Minor, Shane:
Blue and gold macaws are not native to Caracas. But over the past two decades their numbers in Venezuela's capital have skyrocketed, with hundreds of these birds now flying freely across the city, and dazzling locals with their colorful feathers and peculiar calls.2026 April 18, Manuel Rueda, “Caracas' iconic macaws threatened by vanishing palm trees”, in National Public Radio, Washington, D.C.: National Public Radio:
2
Common or usual for a certain place or circumstance; specific or particular.
Kangaroos are peculiar to Australia.
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.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Great Love of His Native Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page 262:
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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.1855, Meiklejohn, John Miller Dow, transl., Critique of Pure Reason, volume 1, division 2, translation of Critik der reinen Vernunft by Immanuel Kant:
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;1863, Thomas Huxley, Collected Essays:
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.1895, Alfred Russel Wallace, “XX: Anomalous Islands: Celebes”, in Island Life:
3
Dated One's own; belonging solely or especially to an individual; not shared or possessed by others.
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.1769, King James Bible, Titus ii. 14:
hymns […] that Christianity hath peculiar unto itself1597, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie:
Etymology From Latin pecūliāris (“one's own”), from pecūlium (“private property”), from pecus (“cattle”).
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 an ecclesiastical district, parish, chapel or church outside the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese in which it is situated.
Related terms
Peculiar in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)