Word of the Day: Idiosyncrasy

idiosyncrasy

id-i-o-syn-cra-sy / ĭd-ē-ō-sĭng-krə-sē

noun

1. a peculiar habit or mannerism; a quirk

It is one of man’s curious idiosyncrasies to create difficulties for the pleasure of resolving them.

Joseph de Maistre 1753-1821

2. an individual’s own, unique physical or emotional make-up

The only success worth one’s powder was success in the line of one’s idiosyncrasy… what was talent but the art of being completely whatever one happened to be?

From “The Next Time” by Henry James, 1843 – 1916

3. an abnormal reaction to a food or drug by an individual

“Inborn errors of metabolism” are examples of defined food idiosyncrasies and occur when certain enzymes in the digestive and/or absorption process of certain foods or food ingredients are missing.

Mary Farmer, “One Man’s Meat is Another Man’s Poison”, ‘Independent Living’, www.independentliving.co.uk/nutrition-blog/food-allergy-one-mans-meat-anothers-poison, accessed March 11, 2023