Etymograph

English

peculiar

Peculiar comes from Latin pecūliāris ‘one's own’, from pecūlium ‘private property’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- ‘to pluck (wool, hair)’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-‘to pluck (wool, hair)’root as named
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*péḱ-osreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pekosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpecus‘cattle’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpecūlium‘private property’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpecūliāris‘one's own’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1597peculiar

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-‘to pluck (wool, hair)’root as named
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*péḱ-osreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pekosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpecus‘cattle’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpecūlium‘private property’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpecūliāris‘one's own’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1597peculiar

Earliest quotation: 1597, Richard Hooker: “hymns […] that Christianity hath peculiar unto itself”.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- ‘to pluck (wool, hair)’

fight, fellow, fee, fax, feud, cynical, hound, fawn, poodle, cynic, feu, fain, chenille, pec, pecuniary, 26 more

through Latin pecus ‘cattle’

pecorino, 1 more

Today it means

adj Out of the ordinary; odd; strange; unusual.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- / peculiar

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