selcouth
English
WOTD – 4 January 2010
Etymology
From Middle English selcouth, from Old English selcūþ, seldcūþ (“unusual, unwonted, little known, unfamiliar, novel, rare”), from seld- (“rarely”) + cūþ (“known”); equivalent to seld + couth.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɛlˈkuːθ/
Audio (UK) (file)
Adjective
selcouth (comparative more selcouth, superlative most selcouth)
- (now rare) Strange, unusual, rare; unfamiliar; marvellous, wondrous.
- 1814, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, Reprint edition, Penguin, published 2000, →ISBN, page 244:
- 'A selcouth novelty,' muttered the knight, 'to advance to storm such a castle without pennon or banner displayed.'
- 2002, Edward Cline, Sparrowhawk II: Hugh Kenrick (Fiction), Digitized edition, MacAdam/Cage Pub., published 2011, →ISBN, page 318:
- The statements in either document are unique and selcouth.
- 2007, Mark Youngblood Herring, “Caught in the Web”, in Fool's Gold: Why the Internet is no Substitute for a Library, McFarland, →ISBN, page 37:
- Left to its own devices and without the Web as a vehicle for misinforming others, the selcouth dogmas that forbade sexual relations ...
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Synonyms
- (strange): bizarre, odd, weird; see also Thesaurus:strange
- (rare): infrequent, scarce, uncommon; see also Thesaurus:rare
- (wondrous): amazing, magnificent, stupendous; see also Thesaurus:awesome
Translations
strange, rare, marvellous
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