Word: odd Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English odde, od (“odd (not even); leftover after division into pairs”), from Old Norse oddi (“odd, third or additional number; triangle”), from oddr (“point of a weapon”), from Proto-Germanic *uzdaz (“point”), from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to stick, prick, pierce, sting”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to set, place”). Cognate to Icelandic oddi (“triangle, point of land, odd number”), Swedish udda (“odd”), udd (“a point”), Danish od (“point of weapon””) and odde (“a headland, point”), Norwegian Bokmål odde (“a point”, “odd”, “peculiar”); related to Old English ord (“a point”). Doublet of ord ("point"). Pronunciation: /ɒd/, /ɑd/ 1. Differing from what is usual, ordinary or expected. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: She slept in, which was very odd. Example: We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner. He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day. 2. Differing from what is usual, ordinary or expected. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: [One of them would] say, 'Hi, Mother.' This might be Chrissie with the purple hair and black lipstick, or Adam, who usually wore odd leather stuff. Sometimes 'Hi' was all I heard; other times they'd stay and talk for a minute. 3. Without a corresponding mate in a pair or set; unmatched; (of a pair or set) mismatched. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: Optimistically, he had a corner of a drawer for odd socks. Example: My cat Fluffy has odd eyes: one blue and one brown. 4. Left over, remaining after the rest have been paired or grouped. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: I'm the odd one out. 5. Left over or remaining (as a small amount) after counting, payment, etc. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: "Here, I have some odd change that should make things easier." As Tish turned and reached for the cigarettes, Eric took some loose coins from his pocket and placed the change from the twenty into his other pocket. Example: Third was my college loan of five thousand dollars and some odd change. 6. Scattered; occasional, infrequent; not forming part of a set or pattern. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: I don't speak Latin well, so in hearing a dissertation in Latin, I would only be able to make out the odd word of it. Example: but for the odd exception 7. Not regular or planned. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: He's only worked odd jobs. 8. Used or employed for odd jobs. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: The odd horse will now be employed in carting couch grass on to pasture land, carting hay, &c, to sheep in the field, carting roots, straw, &c, for feeding cattle in the boxes or dairy cows in the stalls or yards, and in various odd jobs on the farm ... Example: At about 14 he rises a step by getting the 'odd' horse and cart, and does all the small carting work about the farm. 9. Numerically indivisible by two. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: The product of two odd numbers is also odd. Example: In their original article, Messrs Christie and Schultz found that in 70 of the 100 most heavily traded stocks, Nasdaq dealers avoided quoting prices in odd eighths of a dollar. Buyers were far more likely to quote shares at 28 1/2 or 28 3/4 than at 28 5/8. 10. Numbered with an odd number. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: How do I print only the odd pages? 11. About, approximately; somewhat more than (an approximated round number). Labels: in-compounds, not-comparable, usually Example: There were thirty-odd people in the room. 12. Out of the way, secluded. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: "Well, isn't it a bit unusual to run into an old friend in an odd corner of the world like this?" I asked. Example: Plant a clump in your postage stamp garden, or stuff them in an odd corner of a flower bed. (They prefer full sun but will tolerate filtered shade.) 13. On the left. Labels: not-comparable, usually Example: He served from the odd court. 14. Singular in excellence; matchless; peerless; outstanding. Labels: not-comparable, obsolete, usually Example: He goes to Phrygia, and sees Scamander. "Happy are all," he says, "who are honoured by that odd clerk. Homer." In Macedonia, he finds hie mother. Example: I assure you, if I were Hazlewood I should look on his compliments, his bowings, his cloakings, his shawlings, and his handings with some little suspicion; and truly I think Hazlewood does so too at some odd times.