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strange; queer; odd:
peculiar happenings.
uncommon; unusual:
the peculiar hobby of stuffing and mounting bats.
distinctive in nature or character from others.
belonging characteristically (usually followed by to):
an expression peculiar to Canadians.
belonging exclusively to some person, group, or thing:
the peculiar properties of a drug.
Astronomy. designating a star or galaxy with special properties that deviates from others of its spectral type or galaxy class.
a property or privilege belonging exclusively or characteristically to a person.
British. 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.
peculiars, Also called arbitraries. British Printing. special characters not generally included in standard type fonts, as phonetic symbols, mathematical symbols, etc.
Contemporary Examples

California’s upside-down transition reflects the very different personalities and political needs of these two peculiar men.
Arnold, Out Like a Lion Joe Mathews December 31, 2010

Sure, we may come for the recipes, but we stay to be entertained by the cook’s own peculiar passion for the world of the edible.
Eat It Now! Katrina Heron April 11, 2011

In the semifinals, she was in a peculiar position for someone of Jeopardy!
Jeopardy! Champion Julia Collins’s Brain Feels Like Mush Sujay Kumar November 19, 2014

The most peculiar features are two messy pools of watery blood, which run into each other across the small of the back.
The Shroud of Turin and Thomas de Wesselow’s ‘The Sign.’ Thomas de Wesselow April 2, 2012

A peculiar, somewhat cheesy/terrific idea to raise new revenues occurred to me the other day.
How to Make a $50 Bill Worth Millions Barry Levinson March 29, 2010

Historical Examples

She was indeed a peculiar girl—the more the pity for the many that made her so!
Weighed and Wanting George MacDonald

He dwelt on the childhood of Philothea with peculiar pleasure.
Philothea Lydia Maria Child

They are not tattooed, always use the sumpitan, and have a peculiar dialect.
The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido Henry Keppel

The physique of the true fashionable is peculiar and characteristic.
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327 Various

The key, one of a peculiar make, hung always on his watch-chain.
The Arbiter Lady F. E. E. Bell

adjective
strange or unusual; odd: a peculiar individual, a peculiar idea
distinct from others; special
(postpositive) foll by to. belonging characteristically or exclusively (to): peculiar to North America
noun
(printing) Also called arbitrary. a special sort, esp an accented letter
(Church of England) a church or parish that is exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary in whose diocese it lies
adj.

mid-15c., “belonging exclusively to one person,” from Latin peculiaris “of one’s own (property),” from peculium “private property,” literally “property in cattle” (in ancient times the most important form of property), from pecu “cattle, flock,” related to pecus “cattle” (see pecuniary). Meaning “unusual” is first attested c.1600 (earlier “distinguished, special,” 1580s; for sense development, cf. idiom). Related: Peculiarly.

as used in the phrase “peculiar people” in 1 Pet. 2:9, is derived from the Lat. peculium, and denotes, as rendered in the Revised Version (“a people for God’s own possession”), a special possession or property. The church is the “property” of God, his “purchased possession” (Eph. 1:14; R.V., “God’s own possession”).