selcouth

WOTD - 4 January 2010    

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old English selcūþ, seldcūþ (“unusual, unwonted, little known, unfamiliar, novel, rare”), from seld- (“rarely”) + cūþ (“known”); equivalent to seld +‎ couth.

Adjective

selcouth (comparative more selcouth, superlative most selcouth)

1. Strange, unusual, rare; unfamiliar; marvellous, wondrous.

   • 1814, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, edition Reprint, Penguin, published 2000, 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^[1], edition Digitized, Fiction, MacAdam/Cage Pub., ISBN 9781931561204, published 2011, 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^[2], McFarland, ISBN 9780786430826, page 37:

     Left to its own devices and without the Web as a vehicle for misinforming others, the selcouth dogmas that forbade sexual relations ...

Translations

strange, rare, marvellous

Finnish: erikoinen (fi), omituinen (fi) French: merveilleux (fr), étrange (fr), miraculeux (fr)

Italian: meraviglioso (it) Spanish: maravilloso (es), extraño (es), portentoso (es), asombroso (es)