odd

Where does the word "odd" come from? It comes from Old Norse oddi, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Odd’s story begins in Old Norse: oddi meant “an unpaired point, a triangle.” A point, a triangle, or a number left unpaired. It reached English by 1300s as odd. Settled as the English word for an unmatched number, later anything strange. Today, odd means strange or unusual, or not divisible evenly by two.

1. Stage 1 · Old Norse · medieval oddi "an unpaired point, a triangle", a point, a triangle, or a number left unpaired.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s odd "not part of a pair, or strange", settled as the English word for an unmatched number, later anything strange.