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.peculiar (p??kju?l??) adj1. strange or unusual; odd: a peculiar individual; a peculiar idea. 2. distinct from others; special3. (foll by: to) belonging characteristically or exclusively (to): peculiar to North America. n4. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) printing Also called: arbitrary a special sort, esp an accented letter5. (Anglicanism) Church of England a church or parish that is exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary in whose diocese it lies[C15: from Latin pec?li?ris concerning private property, from pec?lium, literally: property in cattle, from pecus cattle] pe?culiarly advCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014pe?cu?liar (p??kyul y?r) adj. 1. strange; queer; odd. 2. uncommon; unusual. 3. distinctive in nature or character from others. 4. belonging characteristically or exclusively to some person, group, or thing (often fol. by to): an expression peculiar to Canadians; the peculiar properties of a drug. n. 5. a property or privilege belonging exclusively to a person. 6. a church or parish of the Church of England under jurisdiction outside of the diocese in which it lies. [1400?50; late Middle English