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peculiaridad

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word peculiaridad

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1527–1561 Bartolomé de las Casas, Historia de las Indias More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Latin pecūlium

Pronunciation

  • /pekuljaɾiˈdad/, [pe.ku.lja.ɾiˈð̞að̞][1]

Forms

peculiaridad f (plural peculiaridades)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish peculiar + -idad: Corominas derives it from peculiar, and the DLE defines it as the quality of being peculiar.[2][3] Wiktionary instead calls it a learned borrowing from Late Latin pecūliāritās.[1] In Medieval Latin that word meant a monk's private property or the estates set aside for a community, not a peculiar quality.[4]

The adjective was taken around 1550 from Latin pecūliāris, properly “relating to one's private fortune”, from pecūlium (“savings, small private fortune”).[2] Corominas explains that sense by livestock having been the chief form of wealth.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is in Bartolomé de las Casas's Historia de las Indias (c. 1527–1561), where Sebastián de Ocampo is sent to find out whether Cuba was an island y otras peculiaridades della “and other particulars of it”.[5]

Semantic evolution

The word was rare before the 19th century, when writers used it for the particular features of a terrain, a nation or its customs: Sarmiento's Facundo speaks of las peculiaridades del terreno.[5] Salvá defined it in 1846 by particularidad, and the Academy's dictionary of 1899 as the quality of being peculiar.[6][7] The DLE adds a second sense, a peculiar detail or sign.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1527–1561 – first record, in Las Casas's Historia de las Indias.[5]
  • c. 1550 – first record of peculiar.[2]
  • 1780 – Clavijero writes of las peculiaridades americanas.[5]
  • 1846 – Salvá's dictionary defines it as particularidad.[6]
  • 1899 – the Academy's dictionary defines it as the quality of being peculiar.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The quality of being peculiar.[3][8]
  2. A peculiarity, distinctive feature or detail; quirk: Cada región tiene sus peculiaridades.[3][8][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 451
  3. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. peculiaridad
  4. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. peculiaritas
  5. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. peculiaridad
  6. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 816
  7. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 755
  8. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. peculiaridad
Cite this entry

“Peculiaridad.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/peculiaridad. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·