odd

Etymology

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").

adj

1. Differing from what is usual, ordinary or expected.
   She slept in, which was very odd.
   1. Peculiar, singular and strange in looks or character; eccentric, bizarre.
      [One of them would] say, 'Hi, Mother.' This might be Chrissie with the purple hair and black lipstick, or Adam, who usually wore odd leather stuff. Sometimes 'Hi' was all I heard; other times they'd stay and talk for a minute. 2003, Kenneth Rubin, Andrea Thompson, The Friendship Factor, Penguin
2. (not comparable) Without a corresponding mate in a pair or set; unmatched; (of a pair or set) mismatched.
   Optimistically, he had a corner of a drawer for odd socks.
   My cat Fluffy has odd eyes: one blue and one brown.
   Itm , lxij almond rivetts. Almain rivetts, a sort of light armour having sleeves of mail, or iron plates, rivetted, with braces for the defence of the arms. Itm, one odd back for an almond rivett. 1822, John Gage, The History and Antiquities of Hengrave, in Suffolk, page 29
3. (not comparable) Left over, remaining after the rest have been paired or grouped.
   I'm the odd one out.
4. (not comparable) Left over or remaining (as a small amount) after counting, payment, etc.
   "Here, I have some odd change that should make things easier." As Tish turned and reached for the cigarettes, Eric took some loose coins from his pocket and placed the change from the twenty into his other pocket. 2009, Sam O'Connor, Tales of Old Las Vegas: Inside are a Few Stories Set in the 60's, where There was More to the Action Than the Games, AuthorHouse, page 187
   Third was my college loan of five thousand dollars and some odd change. 2010, Chris Thomas, The Rockefeller Fraud, Xulon Press, page 24
5. (not comparable) Scattered; occasional, infrequent; not forming part of a set or pattern.
   I don't speak Latin well, so in hearing a dissertation in Latin, I would only be able to make out the odd word of it.
   but for the odd exception
   There are odd bits of green here and there in patches, but no continuous stretches. The elk, swans and woodgrouse are no more. The old hamlets, farmsteads, hermitages and mills have vanished without trace. 1998, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Ronald Hingley, Five Plays, Oxford University Press, USA, page 148
6. (not comparable) Not regular or planned.
   He's only worked odd jobs.
7. (not comparable) Used or employed for odd jobs.
   The odd horse will now be employed in carting couch grass on to pasture land, carting hay, &c, to sheep in the field, carting roots, straw, &c, for feeding cattle in the boxes or dairy cows in the stalls or yards, and in various odd jobs on the farm ... 1879, Journal of Horticulture and Practical Gardening, page 262
   At about 14 he rises a step by getting the 'odd' horse and cart, and does all the small carting work about the farm. 1894, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Sessional papers. Inventory control record 1, page 57
   There is also the “orra man who, like the odd horse, is kept busy on odd jobs. 1912, John Burleigh, Ednam and Its Indwellers
8. (mathematics, not comparable) Numerically indivisible by two.
   The product of odd numbers is also odd.
   In their original article, Messrs Christie and Schultz found that in 70 of the 100 most heavily traded stocks, Nasdaq dealers avoided quoting prices in odd eighths of a dollar. Buyers were far more likely to quote shares at 28 1/2 or 28 3/4 than at 28 5/8. 1998-01-15, “Collusion in the Stockmarket”, in The Economist
9. (not comparable) Numbered with an odd number.
   How do I print only the odd pages?
10. (not comparable, in combination with a number) About, approximately; somewhat more than (an approximated round number).
    There were thirty-odd people in the room.
11. Out of the way, secluded.
    "Well, isn't it a bit unusual to run into an old friend in an odd corner of the world like this?" I asked. 1958, Henry Miller, The Colossus of Maroussi, New Directions Publishing, page 218
    Plant a clump in your postage stamp garden, or stuff them in an odd corner of a flower bed. (They prefer full sun but will tolerate filtered shade.) 2015, Karen Newcomb, The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden: Grow Tons of Organic Vegetables in Tiny Spaces and Containers, Ten Speed Press
12. (sports) On the left.
    He served from the odd court.
13. (obsolete) Singular in excellence; matchless; peerless; outstanding.
    He goes to Phrygia, and sees Scamander. "Happy are all," he says, "who are honoured by that odd clerk. Homer." In Macedonia, he finds hie mother. 1886, Walter William Skeat, The Wars of Alexander: An Alliterative Romance Translated Chiefly from the Historia Alexandri Magni de Preliis, page 120, in (modern English) notes about the Middle English text

noun

1. (mathematics, diminutive) An odd number.
   So let's see. There are two evens here and three odds.
2. (colloquial) Something left over, not forming part of a set.
   I've got three complete sets of these trading cards for sale, plus a few dozen odds.