English edit

Pronunciation edit

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Etymology 1 edit

From Middle English rare, from Old French rare, rere (rare, uncommon), from Latin rārus (loose, spaced apart, thin, infrequent), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (friable, thin). Replaced native Middle English gesen (rare, scarce) (from Old English gǣsne), Middle English seld (rare, uncommon) (from Old English selden), and Middle English seldscene (rare, rarely seen, infrequent) (from Old English seldsēne).

Adjective edit

rare (comparative rarer, superlative rarest)

  1. Very uncommon; scarce.
    Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.
    Synonyms: scarce, selcouth, seld, selly, geason, uncommon; see also Thesaurus:rare
    Antonyms: common, frequent; see also Thesaurus:common
    • 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
      Plant breeding is always a numbers game. [] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
    • 2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Technology: Augmentations Codex entry:
      While many material components in Andromeda are familiar, we have also discovered rarer and more valuable materials; attributable to exposure to the Scourge, or mysterious alien technology.
  2. (of a gas) Thin; of low density.
  3. (UK, slang) Good; enjoyable.
    • 1981, Chris Difford (lyrics), Glenn Tilbrook (vocal), "Vanity Fair" (song):
      Sees her reflection in a butcher shop.
      She finds it all quite rare
      That her meat's all vanity fair.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit

Noun edit

rare (plural rares)

  1. (gaming) A scarce or uncommon item.
    • 1995, George Baxter, Larry W. Smith, Mastering Magic Cards, page 116:
      Most of the time, you do this by trading low-valued rares for more valuable ones or trading uncommons for rares. Other times it's trading cards that are in print for ones that are out of print, or low-value rares for good uncommons.

Etymology 2 edit

From a dialectal variant of rear, from Middle English rere, from Old English hrēr, hrēre (not thoroughly cooked, underdone, lightly boiled), from hrēran (to move, shake, agitate), from Proto-Germanic *hrōzijaną (to stir), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱroHs- (to mix, stir, cook). Related to Old English hrōr (stirring, busy, active, strong, brave). More at rear.

Alternative forms edit

Adjective edit

rare (comparative rarer or more rare, superlative rarest or most rare)

  1. (cooking) Particularly of meat, especially beefsteak: cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red.
    Antonym: well done
Derived terms edit
Translations edit

Etymology 3 edit

Variant of rear.

Verb edit

rare (third-person singular simple present rares, present participle raring, simple past and past participle rared)

  1. (US, intransitive) To rear, rise up, start backwards.
    • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 328:
      Frank pretended to rare back as if bedazzled, shielding his eyes with a forearm.
  2. (US, transitive) To rear, bring up, raise.
    • 2013, Janet Peery, What the Thunder Said: A Novella and Stories, →ISBN:
      Here I have to say that I was walking along dark-hearted, my nose out of joint about Audie's notice of her, for just as quickly as my feelings kindled, my old envy rared.
Usage notes edit
  • Principal current, non-literary use is of the present participle raring with a verb in "raring to". The principal verb in that construction is go. Thus, raring to go ("eager (to start something)") is the expression in which rare is most often encountered as a verb.

Etymology 4 edit

Compare rather, rath.

Adjective edit

rare (comparative more rare, superlative most rare)

  1. (obsolete) Early.

References edit

  • Rare in The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English

Anagrams edit

Danish edit

Adjective edit

rare

  1. plural and definite singular attributive of rar

Dutch edit

Alternative forms edit

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

rare

  1. inflection of raar:
    1. masculine/feminine singular attributive
    2. definite neuter singular attributive
    3. plural attributive

Noun edit

rare m (plural raren, diminutive rareke n)

  1. weird person
    Synonym: rare vogel

References edit

French edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed (in this form) from Latin rārus. Compare the inherited Old French rer, rere.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

rare (plural rares)

  1. rare

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

German edit

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

rare

  1. inflection of rar:
    1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
    2. strong nominative/accusative plural
    3. weak nominative all-gender singular
    4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Ido edit

Pronunciation edit

Adverb edit

rare

  1. rarely
    Antonyms: freque, ofte

Italian edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈra.re/
  • Rhymes: -are
  • Hyphenation: rà‧re

Adjective edit

rare

  1. feminine plural of raro

Anagrams edit

Latin edit

Etymology 1 edit

From rārus +‎ .

Pronunciation edit

Adverb edit

rārē (comparative rārius, superlative rārissimē)

  1. thinly, sparsely, here and there
  2. rarely, seldom

Etymology 2 edit

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

rāre

  1. vocative masculine singular of rārus

References edit

  • rare”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • rare in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette

Middle English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Old French rer and Latin rārus.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈraːr(ə)/, /ˈrɛːr(ə)/

Adjective edit

rare

  1. airy, vacuous
  2. porous, breathable
  3. sparsely spread
  4. rare, uncommon, scarce
  5. small, little

Related terms edit

Descendants edit

  • English: rare
  • Yola: rare

References edit

Norman edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin rārus.

Adjective edit

rare m or f

  1. (Jersey) rare

Derived terms edit

Norwegian Bokmål edit

Adjective edit

rare

  1. inflection of rar:
    1. definite singular
    2. plural

Norwegian Nynorsk edit

Adjective edit

rare

  1. inflection of rar:
    1. definite singular
    2. plural

Swedish edit

Adjective edit

rare

  1. definite natural masculine singular of rar

Anagrams edit

Yola edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English rare, from Old French rer, from Latin rārus.

Adjective edit

rare

  1. rare
    • 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 116, lines 2-4:
      ye wake o'hopes ee-blighte, stampe na yer zwae be rare an lightzom.
      the consequence of disappointed hopes, confirms your rule to be rare and enlightened.

References edit

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 116