PECULIARS
Noun
peculiars
plural of peculiar
Source: Wiktionary
PECULIAR
Pe*cul"iar, a. Etym: [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. 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.
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)
Definition: 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition