Word Of The Week #83

[ajax]

Word Of The Week -- peculiar
Definition: pe·cu·liar (pĭ-kyōōl'y&r)
adj.

1. Strange; queer; odd.
2. Distinctive in nature or character from others.
3. Belonging characteristically or exclusively to some person, group or thing (usually followed by to).

n.

1. A property or privilege belonging exclusively or characteristically to a person.
2. 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.
3. British Printing. A special character not generally included in standard type fonts, as phonetic symbols, mathematical symbols, etc. Generally plural; also called arbitraries.

Etymology: [Latin: peculiaris, of one's own (property), from peculium, private property; lit. property in cattle (in ancient times the most important form of property), from pecu, cattle, flock related to pecus, cattle (see pecuniary).]

Obscurity: 5% (Ooo! I know that one!)

Usefulness: 95% (Common parlance in conversational English.)

Examples:
(def. 1) "I find it peculiar that it's raining over the expressway, but not on the houses to either side."
(def. 2) "Jessie's fashion choices have always seemed a bit peculiar for a girl of her generation, but she relishes the attention she gets for them, so it's all good."
(def. 3) "Super Bowl Sunday may have originally been a celebration peculiar to the United States, but these days it gathers attention around the world."
(def. 4) "The Wyndham Hills resort is a peculiar of the Stotz family, who own almost half of the real estate in Davidson County."
(def. 5) "The Truro and Falls Church congregations might be termed peculiars, as they are now directed by the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a mission of the Nigerian Church, rather than by their local ecclesiasts."
(def. 6) "Something's gotta be done about that new bug in our software, it's replacing every other consonant with a peculiar when you send a document to print."

Another not-very-obscure word; I decided to use it today because I was interested in the etymology. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the sense of peculiar as a synonym for "strange" didn't come about for nearly 150 years after its first use as a term of property, circa 1460 CE, and it took another generation after that for the sense of "special characteristic" to evolve.

So when slavery in the American South was being referred to as "our peculiar institution" by its defenders, they weren't making a comment about how charmingly odd they were for continuing to buy and sell human beings. The word's close tie to pecuniary (meaning "of or pertaining to money") was much more on their minds.

--- Ajax.