rare

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɹɛə/ (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): /ɹɛː/ (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ɹɛɚ/, /ɹɛɹ/ (Australian) IPA(key): /ɹeː/ (New Zealand, without the cheer–chair merger) IPA(key): /ɹeə/ (New Zealand, cheer–chair merger) IPA(key): /ɹiə/ (Scotland) IPA(key): /ɾeɾ/, [ɾeːɾ] (Ireland) IPA(key): [ɹɜɹ] (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) IPA(key): /ɹɜː(ɹ)/ (MLE) IPA(key): /ɹɛ/ Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ) Homophone: rear (cheer–chair merger) === Etymology 1 === 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”). Displaced native English geason (“rare, scarce”) (from Middle English gesen, from Old English gǣsne); and largely displaced Middle English seld (“rare, uncommon”) (from Old English selden) and Middle English seldscene (“rare, rarely seen, infrequent”) (from Old English seldsēne) hence modern English seld ==== Adjective ==== rare (comparative rarer, superlative rarest) Very uncommon; scarce. Synonyms: scarce, selcouth, seld, selly, geason, uncommon; see also Thesaurus:rare Antonyms: common, frequent; see also Thesaurus:common (medicine, pathology) Small in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse. (of a gas) Thin; of low density. (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. (US, slang) Cool; excellent. 1990, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (TV show theme song) I whistled for a cab and when it came near / The license plate said ‘fresh’ and it had dice in the mirror. / If anything I could say that this cab was rare. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== rarity rarefy ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== rare (plural rares) (gaming) A scarce or uncommon item. === Etymology 2 === 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 ==== reer, rere (UK) ==== Adjective ==== rare (comparative rarer or more rare, superlative rarest or most rare) (cooking) Particularly of meat, especially beefsteak: cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red. Antonym: well done ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 3 === Variant of rear. ==== Verb ==== rare (third-person singular simple present rares, present participle raring, simple past and past participle rared) (US, intransitive) To rear, rise up, start backwards. (US, transitive) To rear, bring up, raise. ===== Usage notes ===== 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 === Compare rather, rath. ==== Adjective ==== rare (comparative more rare, superlative most rare) (obsolete) Early. === References === Rare in The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English === Anagrams === arré, rear == Danish == === Adjective === rare plural and definite singular attributive of rar == Dutch == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈraː.rə/ Hyphenation: ra‧re Rhymes: -aːrə === Etymology 1 === From raar +‎ -e. ==== Noun ==== rare m or f by sense (plural raren, no diminutive) weird person Synonym: rare vogel ===== Alternative forms ===== raren (Brabant) === Etymology 2 === See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. ==== Adjective ==== rare inflection of raar: masculine/feminine singular attributive definite neuter singular attributive plural attributive === References === [1] == French == === Etymology === Borrowed (in this form) from Latin rārus. Compare the inherited Old French rer, rere. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ʁaʁ/ ~ /ʁɑʁ/ === Adjective === rare (plural rares) rare ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== Haitian Creole: ra === Further reading === “rare”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 === Anagrams === erra == German == === Pronunciation === Rhymes: -aːʁə === Adjective === rare inflection of rar: strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular strong nominative/accusative plural weak nominative all-gender singular weak accusative feminine/neuter singular == Ido == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈrare/ === Adverb === rare rarely Antonyms: freque, ofte == Italian == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈra.re/ Rhymes: -are Hyphenation: rà‧re === Adjective === rare feminine plural of raro === Anagrams === -arre, -rrea, erra == Latin == === Etymology 1 === From rārus + -ē. ==== Pronunciation ==== (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈraː.reː] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈraː.re] ==== Adverb ==== rārē (comparative rārius, superlative rārissimē) thinly, sparsely, here and there rarely, seldom === Etymology 2 === See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. ==== Pronunciation ==== (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈraː.rɛ] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈraː.re] ==== Adjective ==== rāre vocative masculine singular of rārus === References === “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 == === Alternative forms === rere === Etymology === From Old French rer and Latin rārus. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈraːr(ə)/, /ˈrɛːr(ə)/ === Adjective === rare airy, vacuous porous, breathable sparsely spread rare, uncommon, scarce small, little ==== Related terms ==== rarefien ==== Descendants ==== English: rare Yola: rare ==== References ==== “rār(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 29 March 2018. == Norman == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin rārus. === Adjective === rare m or f (Jersey) rare ==== Derived terms ==== rarement (“rarely”) == Norwegian Bokmål == === Adjective === rare inflection of rar: definite singular plural == Norwegian Nynorsk == === Adjective === rare inflection of rar: definite singular plural == Swedish == === Adjective === rare definite natural masculine singular of rar === Anagrams === rear == Yola == === Etymology === From Middle English rare, from Old French rer, from Latin rārus. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /raːr/ === Adjective === rare rare === References === Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), 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, published 1867, page 116