Mark Dalal wrote:
>
> From: "Shel Belinkoff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> > Peculiar as in unique, special ...
> >
>
> Uhhmmm...special...yeah, that must be
> it....special........okay...........whatever you say Shel ; )
>
> Mark
Subject: define peculiar
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 09:41:19 -0500
From: Wordsmith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
2 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.
