Wiktionary

rare

EnglishEdit

PronunciationEdit

Audio (US)(file)
Audio (CA)(file)

Etymology 1Edit

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).

AdjectiveEdit

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 termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

NounEdit

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 2Edit

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 formsEdit

AdjectiveEdit

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 termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

Etymology 3Edit

Variant of rear.

VerbEdit

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 2007, p. 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 notesEdit
  • 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 4Edit

Compare rather, rath.

AdjectiveEdit

rare (comparative more rare, superlative most rare)

  1. (obsolete) Early.

ReferencesEdit

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

AnagramsEdit

DanishEdit

AdjectiveEdit

rare

  1. plural and definite singular attributive of rar

DutchEdit

Alternative formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

rare

  1. Inflected form of raar

NounEdit

rare m (plural raren, diminutive rareke n)

  1. weird person
    Synonym: rare vogel

ReferencesEdit

FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

rare (plural rares)

  1. rare

Derived termsEdit

Further readingEdit

AnagramsEdit

GermanEdit

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

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

IdoEdit

PronunciationEdit

AdverbEdit

rare

  1. rarely
    Antonyms: freque, ofte

ItalianEdit

PronunciationEdit

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

AdjectiveEdit

rare

  1. feminine plural of raro

AnagramsEdit

LatinEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From rārus +‎ -ē.

PronunciationEdit

AdverbEdit

rārē (comparative rārius, superlative rārissimē)

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

Etymology 2Edit

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

rāre

  1. vocative masculine singular of rārus

ReferencesEdit

  • “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 EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old French rer and Latin rārus.

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈraːr(ə)/, /ˈrɛːr(ə)/

AdjectiveEdit

rare

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

Related termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

  • English: rare
  • Yola: rare

ReferencesEdit

NormanEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Latin rārus.

AdjectiveEdit

rare m or f

  1. (Jersey) rare

Derived termsEdit

Norwegian BokmålEdit

AdjectiveEdit

rare

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

Norwegian NynorskEdit

AdjectiveEdit

rare

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

SwedishEdit

AdjectiveEdit

rare

  1. absolute definite natural masculine singular of rar.

AnagramsEdit

YolaEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

AdjectiveEdit

rare

  1. rare
    • 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, line 3:
      stampe na yer zwae be rare an lightzom.
      confirms your rule to be rare and enlightened.

ReferencesEdit

  • 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
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