PECULIARITY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does peculiarity mean? 

• PECULIARITY (noun)
  The noun PECULIARITY has 3 senses:

1. an odd or unusual characteristic

2. a distinguishing trait

3. something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting

  Familiarity information: PECULIARITY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PECULIARITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An odd or unusual characteristic

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

distinctive feature; distinguishing characteristic; peculiarity

Hypernyms ("peculiarity" is a kind of...):

characteristic; feature (a prominent attribute or aspect of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "peculiarity"):

calling card (a distinguishing characteristic or behavior)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A distinguishing trait

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

distinctiveness; peculiarity; speciality; specialness; specialty

Hypernyms ("peculiarity" is a kind of...):

individualism; individuality; individuation (the quality of being individual)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "peculiarity"):

foible; idiosyncrasy; mannerism (a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual)

Derivation:

peculiar (characteristic of one only; distinctive or special)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

curio; curiosity; oddity; oddment; peculiarity; rarity

Hypernyms ("peculiarity" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "peculiarity"):

bric-a-brac; knickknack; knickknackery; nicknack; whatnot (miscellaneous curios)

collectable; collectible (things considered to be worth collecting (not necessarily valuable or antique))

collector's item; piece de resistance; showpiece (the outstanding item (the prize piece or main exhibit) in a collection)

Derivation:

peculiar (beyond or deviating from the usual or expected)

 Context examples 

He had one peculiarity which Buck was unlucky enough to discover.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Harewood’s peculiarity is to mimic the Prince in everything.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Neither could anything be urged against my father, who, though with some peculiarities, has abilities Mr. Darcy himself need not disdain, and respectability which he will probably never reach.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Harriet's features are very delicate, which makes a likeness difficult; and yet there is a peculiarity in the shape of the eye and the lines about the mouth which one ought to catch.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

I had already noticed the peculiarities of the typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business address asking him if he would come here.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Without thinking about it, he accepted this disappearing into the wall as a peculiarity of his father, as milk and half-digested meat were peculiarities of his mother.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The nature of his tactics suggested his identity to me, and this physical peculiarity—he was badly bitten in a saloon-fight at Adelaide in ’89—confirmed my suspicion.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But he had these peculiarities: and at first they frightened me, though I soon got used to them.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The latter peculiarity took the form of a dislike to being left alone, especially after dark.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A subtype of schizophrenia characterized by a psychomotor disturbance that may involve motoric immobility, excessive motor activity, extreme negativism or mutism, peculiarities of voluntary movement, echolalia, and/or echopraxia.

(Catatonic Type Schizophrenia, NCI Thesaurus)