odd

odd · adjective, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wes-“to stick, prick, pierce, sting”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*uzdaz“point”
3. Old Norse · derived fromoddi“odd, third or additional number; triangle”
4. Middle English · inherited fromodde
5. English todayodd

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").

Odd · proper noun²

1. Old Norse · derived fromOddr
2. Old English · derived fromOdda
3. Anglo-Norman · derived fromOde
4. English todayOdd

English surname, from the Middle English name Ode, either from Anglo-Norman Ode (see Oates) or from Old English Odda, Old Norse Oddr, or a conflation of all. Compare Oddy.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• since the 1400s Singular in excellence; matchless; peerless; outstanding.