Straunge

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Unfamiliar or surprising in a way that seems odd or out of the ordinary
2. Causing wonder or puzzlement because it deviates from what is normal or expected
3. Remarkable or peculiar in appearance, behavior, or quality in a manner that attracts attention

Etymology: Before it meant odd, this word meant foreign. It came into Middle English from Old French "estrange," which descended from Latin "extraneus," meaning "external" or "foreign," built from "extra," "outside." A stranger was a foreigner, and a land of strangers was a foreign one. The meaning then drifted from geography to behaviour. Someone from far away seemed unfamiliar, and unfamiliar things seemed unusual, so the adjective grew to cover the peculiar and the surprising. The older sense survives in phrases where a person is simply a stranger to you, meaning you do not know them. English also has "extraneous," which came straight from Latin. The two words are doublets: one arrived through French speech and the other through scholarly borrowing, which is why they look and sound so different despite sharing a source.