Where does “strange” come from?

Strange comes from Middle English strange, from Old French estrange, from Latin extraneus meaning "foreign," derived from Latin extra meaning "outside" plus the suffix -anus.

strange (English): Not normal; odd, unusual, surprising, out of the...

Definitions

  1. Not normal; odd, unusual, surprising, out of the...

Ancestry of “strange”, step by step

strange traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Latin extrāneus

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinextrāneusforeign
2Latin-āneusforming adjectives Of or pertaining to; -aneous
3Latin-eusargentum + API → argenteus; ferrum + API →...
4Proto-Italic*-eosForms adjectives indicating being formed out of a material

via Middle English straunge

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishstraungeforeign; overseas; strange, unusual, other;...
2Anglo-NormanestraungeLate Anglo-Norman spelling of estrange

Words derived from “strange

Every word from Proto-Italic *-eos
strange — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer