odd
UK /ɒd/ · US /ɑd/ adjective, noun, proper noun
Forms odder oddest odds
- adjective Differing from what is usual, ordinary or expected. “She slept in, which was very odd.”
- adjective Peculiar, singular and strange in looks or character; eccentric, bizarre.
- adjective (not comparable) Without a corresponding mate in a pair or set; unmatched; (of a pair or set) mismatched. “Optimistically, he had a corner of a drawer for odd socks.”
- adjective (not comparable) Left over, remaining after the rest have been paired or grouped. “I'm the odd one out.”
- adjective (not comparable) Left over or remaining (as a small amount) after counting, payment, etc.
- adjective (not comparable) Scattered; occasional, infrequent; not forming part of a set or pattern. “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.”
- adjective (not comparable) Not regular or planned. “He's only worked odd jobs.”
- adjective (not comparable) Used or employed for odd jobs.
- noun (informal) Something left over, not forming part of a set. “I’ve got three complete sets of these trading cards for sale, plus a few dozen odds.”
- noun (mathematics, diminutive) An odd number. “So let’s see. There are two evens here and three odds.”
- proper noun A male given name.
- proper noun Minced form of God.
- proper noun A surname from Middle English.
Synonyms
unusual strange aberrant abnormal alien anomalous as queer as Dick's hatband bizarre booky curious deviant discrepant eerie eldritch errant exceptional extraordinary fey forby freak uneven funny peculiar queer rum rummy singular unmatched unmated unpaired
Antonyms
common familiar mediocre average basic bog-standard common as bums common as dirt common as muck common as pig tracks dime a dozen everyday even
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").
English surname, from the Middle English name Ode, either from Anglo-Norman Ode (see Oates) or from Old English Odda, Old Norse Oddr, or a conflation of all. Compare Oddy.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Not paired with another, or remaining over after a pairing; without a mate; unmatched; single; as, an odd shoe; an odd glove.
- adjective Not divisible by 2 without a remainder; not capable of being evenly paired, one unit with another; as, 1, 3, 7, 9, 11, etc., are odd numbers.
Etymology [OE. odde, fr.Icel. oddi a tongue of land, a triangle, an odd number (from the third or odd angle, or point, of a triangle), orig., a point, tip; akin to Icel. oddr point, point of a weapon, Sw. udda odd, udd point, Dan. od, AS. ord, OHG. ort, G. ort place (cf. E. point, for change of meaning).]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “odd”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details