This adjective (from περί) describes what exceeds normal bounds: prodigious gifts, extraordinary knowledge, striking literary style. It can mean 'out of the common,' 'strange,' or 'exceptional.' Aristotle uses it of the dog as the most companionable of all animals. The New Testament asks 'What do you do that is extraordinary?' In literature, τὸ περιττόν refers to an ornate, striking quality. The word spans positive excellence and negative oddity, united by exceeding the ordinary.