Emily Dickinson Lexicon

STRANGE, a. [Fr. etrange; It. strano, strange, foreign, pale, wan, rude, unpolite; stranare, to alienate, to remove, to abuse; straniare, to separate; Sp. extraño, foreign, extraneous, rare, wild; L. extraneus; W. estronaiz, strange; estrawn, a stranger. The primary sense of the root tran, is to depart, to proceed; W. trawn, over; traw, an advance or distance.]

1. Foreign; belonging to another country. I do not contemn the knowledge of strange and divers tongues. [This sense is nearly obsolete.] – Ascham.
2. Not domestic; belonging to others. So she, impatient her own faults to see, / Turns from herself, and in strange things delights. – Davies. [Nearly obsolete.]
3. New; not before known, heard, or seen. The former custom was familiar; the latter was strange to them. Hence,
4. Wonderful; causing surprise; exciting curiosity. It is strange that men will not receive improvement, when it is shown to be improvement. Sated at length, ere long I might perceive / Strange alteration in me. – Milton.
5. Odd; unusual; irregular; not according to the common way. He's strange and peevish. – Shak.
6. Remote. [Little used.] – Shak.
7. Uncommon; unusual. This made David to admire the law of God at that strange rate. – Tillotson.
8. Unacquainted. They were now at a gage, looking strange at one another. – Bacon.
9. Strange is sometimes uttered by way of exclamation. Strange! what extremes should thus preserve the snow, / High on the Alps, or in deep caves below. – Waller. This is an elliptical expression for it is strange.