— peculiarly , adv.
/pi kyoohl"yeuhr/ , adj.
1. strange; queer; odd: peculiar happenings.
2. uncommon; unusual: the peculiar hobby of stuffing and mounting bats.
3. distinctive in nature or character from others.
4. belonging characteristically (usually fol. by to ): an expression peculiar to Canadians.
5. belonging exclusively to some person, group, or thing: the peculiar properties of a drug.
6. Astron. designating a star or galaxy with special properties that deviates from others of its spectral type or galaxy class.
n.
7. a property or privilege belonging exclusively or characteristically to a person.
8. Brit. 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.
9. peculiars . Also called arbitraries . Brit. Print. special characters not generally included in standard type fonts, as phonetic symbols, mathematical symbols, etc.
[ 1400-50; late ME; peculiaris as one's own, equiv. to peculi ( um ) property (deriv. of pecu flock, farm animals; akin to pecus cattle (see FEE)) + -aris -AR 1 ]
Syn. 1. eccentric, bizarre. See strange. 2. extraordinary, singular, exceptional. 5. individual, personal, particular, special, unique.
Ant. 2, 5. common.