pe·cu·liar (p?-kyo?ol?y?r)adj.1. Not ordinary or usual; odd or strange: noticed a peculiar odor in the room. See Synonyms at strange.2. Belonging distinctively or primarily to one person, group, or kind; special or unique: a species peculiar to the high desert.n.1. A privilege or property that is exclusively one’s own.2. Chiefly British A church or parish under the jurisdiction of a diocese different from that in which it lies.[Middle English peculier, personal, from Latin pec?li?ris, from pec?lium, private property; see peku- in Indo-European roots.]pe·cu?liar·ly adv.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.