different between peculiar vs unique

English

Etymology

From Latin pec?li?ris (“one's own”), from pec?lium (“private property”), from pecus (“cattle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??kju?l.j???/
  • (UK) IPA^(key): [p???k?ju?l.j??]
  • (US) IPA^(key): [p???k?jul.j???], [p???k?jul.j?]

Adjective

peculiar (comparative more peculiar, superlative most peculiar)

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

   Synonyms: odd, strange, uncommon, unusual

   Antonyms: common, mediocre, ordinary, usual

2. Common or usual for a certain place or circumstance; specific or particular.

   Synonym: specific

   Antonyms: common, general, universal

3. (dated) One's own; belonging solely or especially to an individual; not shared or possessed by others.
4. (dated) Particular; individual; special; appropriate.

Synonyms

• (out of the ordinary): see also Thesaurus:strange
• (common or usual in a particular place or circumstance): see also Thesaurus:specific

Antonyms

• (out of the ordinary): see also Thesaurus:normal
• (common or usual in a particular place or circumstance): see also Thesaurus:generic

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

peculiar (plural peculiars)

1. That which is peculiar; a sole or exclusive property; a prerogative; a characteristic.
   • before 1716, Robert South, Twelve Sermons

     If anything can legalize revenge, it should be injury from an extremely obliged person; but revenge is so absolutely the peculiar of heaven.

2. (Britain, canon law) an ecclesiastical district, parish, chapel or church outside the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese in which it is situated.

See also

• peculiar on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Peculiar in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

References

Anagrams

• pericula

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin pec?li?ris.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /p?.ku.li?a/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /pe.ku.li?a?/

Adjective

peculiar (masculine and feminine plural peculiars)

1. peculiar

Derived terms

• peculiarment

Related terms

• peculiaritat

Further reading

• “peculiar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “peculiar” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “peculiar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “peculiar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pec?li?ris.

Adjective

peculiar m or f (plural peculiares, comparable)

1. peculiar; unusual; strange

   Synonyms: esquisito, estranho

2. peculiar (common or usual for a particular place or circumstance)

   Synonym: particular

Related terms

• peculiaridade

Further reading

• “peculiar” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin pec?li?ris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /peku?lja?/, [pe.ku?lja?]

Adjective

peculiar (plural peculiares)

1. peculiar

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French unique.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ju??ni?k/
• Rhymes: -i?k

Adjective

unique (comparative uniquer or more unique, superlative uniquest or most unique)

1. (not comparable) Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched.

   Synonyms: one of a kind, sui generis, singular

2. Of a feature, such that only one holder has it.
3. Particular, characteristic.
4. (proscribed) Of a rare quality, unusual.

Usage notes

• The comparative and superlative forms uniquer or more unique and uniquest or most unique, as well as the use of unique with modifiers as in fairly unique and very unique, are grammatically proscribed, with the reasoning that either something is unique or it is not.

Derived terms

• uniquely
• uniqueness
• uniquity

Related terms

• unicity
• one-of-a-kind
• inimitable

Translations

Noun

unique (plural uniques)

1. A thing without a like; something unequalled or unparallelled; one of a kind.
   • a. 1859, Thomas De Quincey, Language

     The phoenix, the unique of birds.

Translations

Further reading

• unique in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• unique in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “unique” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ?nicus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /y.nik/

Adjective

unique (plural uniques)

1. unique
2. only

Derived terms

Related terms

• un

Descendants

• ? Danish: unik
• ? Dutch: uniek
• ? Norwegian Bokmål: unik
• ? Norwegian Nynorsk: unik
• ? Swedish: unik
• ? Turkish: ünik

Further reading

• “unique” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).