Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Strange

Strange (strānj), a. [Compar. Stranger; superl. Strangest.] [OE. estrange, F. étrange, fr. L. extraneus that is without, external, foreign, fr. extra on the outside. See Extra, and cf. Estrange, Extraneous.] 1. Belonging to another country; foreign. "To seek strange strands." Chaucer.

One of the strange queen's lords. Shak.

I do not contemn the knowledge of strange and divers tongues. Ascham.

2. Of or pertaining to others; not one's own; not pertaining to one's self; not domestic.

So she, impatient her own faults to see, Turns from herself, and in strange things delights. Sir J. Davies.

3. Not before known, heard, or seen; new.

Here is the hand and seal of the duke; you know the character, I doubt not; and the signet is not strange to you. Shak.

4. Not according to the common way; novel; odd; unusual; irregular; extraordinary; unnatural; queer. "He is sick of a strange fever." Shak.

Sated at length, erelong I might perceive Strange alteration in me. Milton.

5. Reserved; distant in deportment. Shak.

She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon learn to love thee. Hawthorne.

6. Backward; slow. [Obs.]

Who, loving the effect, would not be strange In favoring the cause. Beau. & Fl.

7. Not familiar; unaccustomed; inexperienced.

In thy fortunes am unlearned and strange. Shak.

☞ Strange is often used as an exclamation.

Strange! what extremes should thus preserve the snow High on the Alps, or in deep caves below. Waller.

Strange sail (Naut.), an unknown vessel. — Strange woman (Script.), a harlot. Prov. v. 3. — To make it strange. (a) To assume ignorance, suspicion, or alarm, concerning it. Shak. (b) To make it a matter of difficulty. [Obs.] Chaucer. — To make strange, To make one's self strange. (a) To profess ignorance or astonishment. (b) To assume the character of a stranger. Gen. xlii. 7.

Syn. — Foreign; new; outlandish; wonderful; astonishing; marvelous; unusual; odd; uncommon; irregular; queer; eccentric.

Strange, adv. Strangely. [Obs.]

Most strange, but yet most truly, will I speak. Shak.

Strange, v. t. To alienate; to estrange. [Obs.]

Strange, v. i. 1. To be estranged or alienated. [Obs.]

2. To wonder; to be astonished. [Obs.] Glanvill.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.