strange English · revision 4084

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1280|origins=la extraneus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /streɪndʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|straunge]], strounge,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|estrange|t=foreign, alien, unusual, unfamiliar; distant; estranged]] (modern French étrange),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) with loss of the first syllable,^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(Cresswell 2021) from [[la|extrāneus|t=foreign, external, from without]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|extrā|t=outside of]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the feminine ablative of exter “outward”, from ex “out of”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) It is a doublet of [[estrange]] and [[extraneous]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) [[Stranger]] is from Old French estrangier, 1375.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “From elsewhere, foreign, unknown, unfamiliar”: about 1280 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1290 in the OED, of something belonging to another place or neighbourhood,^(OED 1989) and about 1300 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English it meant “not belonging to the place where found” in any sense, of religious groups, guilds and households as well as towns.^(Etymonline) The sense “surprising, queer” is implied from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and “aloof, reserved, distant, like a stranger” is by the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) ''To make strange'', “to seem surprised or shocked”, is from the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline) and as an interjection of wonder it is from the 1660s.^(Etymonline) The biblical ''strange woman'', a harlot, is from Coverdale (1535), where it translates Hebrew words meaning “not one's own” woman.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In particle physics strange, of a quark, is from 1956.^(Etymonline) The surname Lestrange is from the late 12th century.^(Etymonline) The verb strange, “to estrange; to make or become strange”, from the late 14th century, survives only in Scots and dialect.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1280 – foreign, unfamiliar.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – surprising, queer.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-14th century – aloof.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1535 – ''strange woman''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1660s – interjection.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1956 – in particle physics.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Not known before; [[unfamiliar]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Out of the ordinary; unusual or striking; [[odd]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # From another place; foreign or exotic.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Reserved in manner; [[distant]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Not comfortable or at ease; out of place.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In physics, having the property of strangeness: ''a strange quark''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(informal)'' In a strange manner.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[strangely]]

+ * [[unstrange]]

+ * [[strangeness]]

+ * [[strange quark]]

+ * [[strange woman]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[estrange]]

+ * [[estranged]]

+ * [[stranger]]

+ * [[extraneous]]

+ * [[extra]]

+ * [[exterior]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage distinguishes strange, especially of what is unfamiliar or unknown, from peculiar, odd, queer, quaint, outlandish, singular, eccentric and curious.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}