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peculiar |
5 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Peculiar \Pe*cul"iar\, n. 1. That which is peculiar; a sole or exclusive property; a prerogative; a characteristic. Revenge is . . . the peculiar of Heaven. --South. 2. (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. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. And purify unto himself a peculiar people. --Titus ii 14. Hymns . . . that Christianity hath peculiar unto itself --Hooker. 2. Particular; individual; special; appropriate. While each peculiar power forgoes his wonted seat. --Milton. My fate is Juno's most peculiar care --Dryden. 3. 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. From WordNet r 1.6 [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}, {queer}, {rum}, {rummy}, {singular}] 2: 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)}] 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 [syn: {peculiar(a)}] From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]: Peculiar, MO (city, FIPS 56756) Location: 38.72309 N, 94.45786 W Population (1990): 1777 (673 housing units) Area: 3.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 64078 From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]: Peculiar as used in the phrase "peculiar people" in 1 Pet. 2:9, is derived from the Lat. peculium, and denotes, as rendered in the Revised Version ("a people for God's own possession"), a special possession or property. The church is the property" of God, his "purchased possession" (Eph. 1:14; R.V., "God's own possession").
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