odd

adj

/ɒd/UK/ɑd/US

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").

derived from *wes-✻ — “to stick, prick, pierce, sting”
derived from *uzdaz✻ — “point”
derived from oddi — “odd, third or additional number; triangle”
inherited from odde

Definitions

1
Differing from what is usual, ordinary or expected.
- She slept in, which was very odd.
- Jena Janovy is a strange bird—a college basketball player who is a) female and b) short (5 feet 3 inches) and, perhaps oddest of all, lets neither of those things dampen her rabid enthusiasm for the game.
2
Without a corresponding mate in a pair or set
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.
- My cat Fluffy has odd eyes: one blue and one brown.
- Itm , lxij almond rivetts. Almain rivetts, a sort of light armour having sleeves of mail, or iron plates, rivetted, with braces for the defence of the arms. Itm, one odd back for an almond rivett.
3
Left over, remaining after the rest have been paired or grouped.
- I'm the odd one out.
›+ 17 more definitionsshow fewer
1. 4
  Left over or remaining (as a small amount) after counting, payment, etc.
  - "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.
  - Third was my college loan of five thousand dollars and some odd change.
2. 5
  Scattered
  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.
  - but for the odd exception
3. 6
  Not regular or planned.
  - He's only worked odd jobs.
4. 7
  Used or employed for odd jobs.
  - At about 14 he rises a step by getting the 'odd' horse and cart, and does all the small carting work about the farm.
  - There is also the “orra man who, like the odd horse, is kept busy on odd jobs.
5. 8
  Numerically indivisible by two.
  - The product of two odd numbers is also odd.
6. 9
  Numbered with an odd number.
  - How do I print only the odd pages?
7. 10
  About, approximately
  About, approximately; somewhat more than (an approximated round number).
  - There were thirty-odd people in the room.
8. 11
  Out of the way, secluded.
  - "Well, isn't it a bit unusual to run into an old friend in an odd corner of the world like this?" I asked.
  - 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.)
9. 12
  On the left.
  - He served from the odd court.
10. 13
  Singular in excellence
  Singular in excellence; matchless; peerless; outstanding.
  - 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.
  - 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.
11. 14
  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.
12. 15
  An odd number.
  - So let’s see. There are two evens here and three odds.
13. A male given name.
14. 17
  Minced form of God.
  - Odd's pittikins, Odd's blood, Odd's hounds, Odd's dickens, Od's fish, Od's heft
15. A surname from Middle English.
16. Initialism of oppositional defiant disorder.
17. Initialism of optical disc drive.

The neighborhood

neighborord
neighborodds and ends
neighborOdd Rode

Derived

at odd times, even-odd, nonodd, odd and curious, oddball, odd bird, odd-bod, odd bod, odd-come-short, odd couple, odd duck, odden, odderon, odd-even, odd-eyed, Oddfellow, odd fish, odd function, oddify, oddish, odditorium, oddity, odd-job, odd job, odd-jobber, odd-jobman, oddling, odd lot, odd lotter, oddly, odd man, odd man out, odd man wins, oddment, oddness, odd-numbered, odd-odd, odd one out, odd-pinnate, odds · +9 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at odd. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

A definitional loop anchored at odd. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at odd

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA