odd English · revision 5204

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=non oddi}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ɒd/, US /ɑːd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|odde|t=left over, single]], [[bor|non|odda-]], the combining form of [[m|non|oddi|t=third or odd number; point of land, triangle]], as in odda-maðr “third or odd man, who gives the casting vote” and odda-tala “odd number”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) Oddi is related to oddr “point of a weapon” and to Old English ord “point”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*uzdaz|t=pointed upward]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The step from “point” to “third number” is found only in Old Norse, through the idea of a triangle.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Being one more than a pair, left over: about 1280 in Barnhart, about 1300 in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Of a number, not divisible by two: about 1375 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was used from the late 14th century for a surplus over a given sum, as in ''forty-odd''.^(Etymonline) About 1400 it could mean “singular” in a good sense, renowned or rare.^(Etymonline) From the idea of the odd one out came the sense “strange, peculiar”, first recorded in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost in 1588.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) An ''odd job'', casual work, is from 1728,^(Etymonline) ''oddity'' from 1713 and ''oddments'' from 1796.^(Barnhart 1988) In betting, ''odds'' have been used since the early 16th century.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – one left over.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1375 – of numbers.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – singular, renowned.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1588 – strange.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1728 – ''odd job''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Strange or unusual; [[peculiar]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a number, not divisible by two: ''1, 3 and 5 are odd numbers''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Occasional or irregular: ''odd jobs''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Left over or separated from a pair or set: ''an odd sock''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A little more than a round number: ''forty-odd years''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[oddly]]

+ * [[oddness]]

+ * [[oddish]]

+ * [[oddity]]

+ * [[oddment]]

+ * [[oddball]]

+ * [[odds]]

+ * [[odd-job]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ord]]

+ * [[odds and ends]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}