Standard Lemma guide

peculiarity

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /pɪˌkjuliˈɛɹɪti/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /pɪˌkjuːliˈæɹɪti/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -æɹɪti
  • CMU ARPABET: P IH0 K Y UW2 L IY0 EH1 R AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state or quality of being peculiar; individuality; singularity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • The peculiarity of meeting six people on a usually deserted trail only struck me later on.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

That which is peculiar; a special and distinctive characteristic or habit; a particularity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Exclusive possession or right.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: curio, curiosity, oddity, oddment, rarity

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: object, physical object

Narrower terms: bric-a-brac, knickknack, nicknack, knickknackery, whatnot, collectible, collectable, collector's item, showpiece, piece de resistance

5

noun

Meaning 5

a distinguishing trait

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: specialness, specialty, speciality, distinctiveness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: individuality, individualism, individuation

Narrower terms: idiosyncrasy, foible, mannerism

6

noun

Meaning 6

an odd or unusual characteristic

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: distinctive feature, distinguishing characteristic

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: feature, characteristic

Narrower terms: calling card

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English peculiar Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Latin -itāsder. Old French -itebor. Middle English -ite English -ity English peculiarity From peculiar + -ity.

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: особеност (osobenost) — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • Bulgarian: своеобразие (svoeobrazie) — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • Catalan: peculiaritat — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • French: singularité — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • French: bizarrerie — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • French: étrangeté — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • German: Singularität — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • German: Einzigartigkeit — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • Hindi: विलक्षणता (vilakṣaṇtā) — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • Hindi: अनोखापन (anokhāpan) — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • Hindi: विचित्रता (vicitratā) — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • Lithuanian: saviškumas — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • Plautdietsch: Ieejenschoft — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • Portuguese: peculiaridade — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • Spanish: peculiaridad — the quality or state of being peculiar
  • Azerbaijani: xüsusiyyət — that which is peculiar
  • Azerbaijani: özəllik — that which is peculiar
  • Bulgarian: особеност (osobenost) — that which is peculiar
  • Catalan: peculiaritat — that which is peculiar
  • Esperanto: propreco — that which is peculiar
  • French: particularité — that which is peculiar
  • French: distinction — that which is peculiar
  • German: Besonderheit — that which is peculiar
  • Plautdietsch: Ieejenschoft — that which is peculiar
  • Polish: specyfika — that which is peculiar
  • Polish: swoistość — that which is peculiar
  • Portuguese: peculiaridade — that which is peculiar
  • Russian: осо́бенность (osóbennostʹ) — that which is peculiar
  • Spanish: peculiaridad — that which is peculiar
  • Swedish: egenhet — that which is peculiar
Real reading context

peculiarity in complete knowledge articles