Crossword clues for peculiar
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Peculiar \Pe*cul"iar\, n.
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That which is peculiar; a sole or exclusive property; a prerogative; a characteristic.
Revenge is . . . the peculiar of Heaven.
--South. -
(Eng. Canon Law) A particular parish or church which is exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary.
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.
Peculiar \Pe*cul"iar\, a. [L. peculiaris, fr. peculium private property, akin to pecunia money: cf. OF. peculier. See Pecuniary.]
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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.
And purify unto himself a peculiar people.
--Titus ii. 14.Hymns . . . that Christianity hath peculiar unto itself.
--Hooker. -
Particular; individual; special; appropriate.
While each peculiar power forgoes his wonted seat.
--Milton.My fate is Juno's most peculiar care.
--Dryden. -
Unusual; singular; rare; strange; as, the sky had a peculiarappearance.
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.
Beauty, which, either walking or asleep, Shot forth peculiar graces.
--Milton.For naught so vile that on the earth doth live, But to the earth some special good doth give.
--Shak.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mid-15c., "belonging exclusively to one person," from Latin peculiaris "of one's own (property)," from peculium "private property," literally "property in cattle" (in ancient times the most important form of property), from pecu "cattle, flock," related to pecus "cattle" (see pecuniary). Meaning "unusual" is first attested c.1600 (earlier "distinguished, special," 1580s; for sense development, compare idiom). Related: Peculiarly.
Wiktionary
a. 1 Out of the ordinary; odd; curious; unusual. 2 common or usual for a certain place or circumstance; specific or particular. 3 (context dated English) One's own; belonging solely or especially to an individual; not shared or possessed by others. 4 (context dated English) Particular; individual; special; appropriate. n. 1 That which is peculiar; a sole or exclusive property; a prerogative; a characteristic. 2 (context UK canon law English) A particular parish or church which is exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary.
WordNet
adj. 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, queer, rum, rummy, singular]
unique or specific to a person or thing or category; "the particular demands of the job"; "has a paraticular 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)]
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
characteristic of one only; distinctive or special; "the peculiar character of the Government of the U.S."- R.B.Taney [syn: peculiar(a)]
Gazetteer
Housing Units (2000): 983
Land area (2000): 3.496290 sq. miles (9.055348 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.046421 sq. miles (0.120231 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 3.542711 sq. miles (9.175579 sq. km)
FIPS code: 56756
Located within: Missouri (MO), FIPS 29
Location: 38.720896 N, 94.456733 W
ZIP Codes (1990): 64078
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Peculiar
Wikipedia
Peculiar may refer to:
- Peculiar (album), an album by The Slackers
- Peculiar, a comic strip, later published as a book, by cartoonist Richard Sala
- Peculiar, an ecclesiastical district, parish, chapel or church outside the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese in which it is situated
Peculiar is an album by the New York City ska band The Slackers. It was released on Hellcat Records in 2006.
Usage examples of "peculiar".
The specialist skilled by large experience in detecting the exact morbid condition which causes the watery effusion and accumulation, can select his remedies to meet the peculiar indications presented by each individual case.
It cannot be truly international unless it accords to its affiliated bodies full freedom in matters of policy and forms of struggle on the basis of such program and principles, so that the Socialists of each country may work out their problems in the light of their own peculiar economic, political and social conditions as well as the historic traditions.
But the peculiar infelicity of the Byzantine princes exposed them to domestic perils, without affording any lively promise of foreign conquest.
This decomposing vegetable matter within and upon the porous alluvial material produces large quantities of carbonic acid, a gas which readily enters the rain water, and gives it a peculiar power of breaking up rock matter.
There is a modest contingent of ethnologists and anthropologists, doing nothing very much, as near as I can gather, except annoying people by asking peculiar questions about all sorts of things that are none of their business.
The Archivist was watching them from his chair, and there was a peculiar, painful mixture of hope and fear on his face.
This led to the enrichment of the archivolts and imposts with that peculiar type of conventional foliage which characterizes Mahommedan work, and which in this case was carried out by Coptic craftsmen.
Yet the old assimilationist model - still secretly admired, but publicly ridiculed - is working efficiently for only a minority of new immigrants, given their enormous numbers and the peculiar circumstances of immigration from Mexico in the last half-century.
The Autocrat began to make a peculiar noise that sounded like the death gurgle of an animal dying of pain and thirst.
While Xin and Liao and Silipan led fully conscious lives, Xopi Reung was part of the automation in the walls, unseen except for the occasional peculiar circumstance.
When the berserker launch vehicle came shooting up out of that peculiar background, it flew past his scoutship before either he or his autopilot could react effectively, coming so close, within a few kilometers, that Pike instinctively recoiled, as from an imminent collision.
We have already marked out the two capes in the Southern hemisphere for three-hourly observations: they must doubtless possess very peculiar barometric characters, stretching as they do into the vast area of the Southern Ocean.
But the barrage idea, it seemed, had been lost track of completely in the air wars that followed the First World War, and in the peculiar guerrilla tactics developed by Americans in the later period of operations from the ground against Han airships, and in the gang wars which until a few generations ago I learned, had been almost continuous.
De Batz instinctively thought of the perfumed stillness of the rooms at Versailles, of the army of elegant high-born ladies who had ministered to the wants of this child, who stood there now before him, a cap on his yellow hair, and his shoulder held up to his ear with that gesture of careless indifference peculiar to children when they are sullen or uncared for.
She seemed to Bernard now to have a great and peculiar brightness-- something she had never had before.