Result from Foreign Dictionaries (4 entries found)

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: 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. [1913 Webster] And purify unto himself a peculiar people. --Titus ii. 14. [1913 Webster] Hymns . . . that Christianity hath peculiar unto itself. --Hooker. [1913 Webster] 2. Particular; individual; special; appropriate. [1913 Webster] While each peculiar power forgoes his wonted seat. --Milton. [1913 Webster] My fate is Juno's most peculiar care. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 3. Unusual; singular; rare; strange; as, the sky had a peculiar appearance. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] Beauty, which, either walking or asleep, Shot forth peculiar graces. --Milton. [1913 Webster] For naught so vile that on the earth doth live, But to the earth some special good doth give. --Shak. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Peculiar \Pe*cul"iar\, n. 1. That which is peculiar; a sole or exclusive property; a prerogative; a characteristic. [1913 Webster] Revenge is . . . the peculiar of Heaven. --South. [1913 Webster] 2. (Eng. Canon Law) A particular parish or church which is exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary. [1913 Webster] {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. [1913 Webster] From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: peculiar 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(a)}, {peculiar(a)}, {special(a)}] 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 From Portuguese-English FreeDict Dictionary ver. 0.1.1 [fd-por-eng]: peculiar 1. apart; particular; separate; special 2. own; personal