rare

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɛə(ɹ)/
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): [ɹɜɹ]
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ɹɛɚ/, /ɹɛɹ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)

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”). 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

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

• in rare form
• on rare form
• rare animal
• rare as a four-leaf clover
• rare as hen's teeth
• rare as rocking horse shit
• rare bird
• rare earth
• rare-earth element
• rare earth element
• rare earth magnet
• rare earth metal
• rare earth mineral
• rare gas
• rare groove
• rare spring-sedge

 

Related terms

• rarity

Translations

very uncommon

• Albanian: rrallë (sq)
• Arabic: نَادِر (nādir)

  Egyptian Arabic: نادر (nādir)

  South Levantine Arabic: نادر (náder)

• Asturian: raru
• Azerbaijani: nadir (az), seyrək
• Bashkir: һирәк (hirək)
• Basque: arraro
• Belarusian: рэ́дкі (be) (rédki)
• Bulgarian: ря́дък (bg) (rjádǎk), необикновен (bg) (neobiknoven)
• Catalan: rar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 稀少 (zh) (xīshǎo), 稀疏 (zh) (xīshū), 稀有 (zh) (xīyǒu), 罕見／罕见 (zh) (hǎnjiàn)

• Czech: vzácný (cs) m, řídký (cs)
• Danish: sjælden (da)
• Dutch: zeldzaam (nl)
• Esperanto: malofta, rara (eo)
• Estonian: haruldane, erakordne
• Faroese: sjáldsamur, rárur
• Finnish: harvinainen (fi)
• French: rare (fr), peu commun
• Friulian: râr
• Galician: raro (gl)
• German: selten (de), rar (de)
• Greek: σπάνιος (el) (spánios)

  Ancient: σπάνιος (spánios)

• Hebrew: נדיר (he) (nadir)
• Hindi: दुर्लभ (hi) (durlabh), नायाब (hi) (nāyāb), नादिर (hi) (nādir), कमयाब (hi) (kamyāb), अप्राप्य (hi) (aprāpya)
• Hungarian: ritka (hu)
• Ido: rara (io)
• Indonesian: jarang (id), langka (id)
• Ingrian: harva
• Irish: annamh
• Italian: raro (it)
• Japanese: 珍しい (ja) (mezurashii), 稀な (ja) (mare na)
• Korean: 드물다 (ko) (deumulda), 희귀(稀貴)하다 (huigwihada)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: نایاب (nayab)

• Latin: rārus m
• Latvian: rets (lv)
• Lithuanian: retas m
• Macedonian: редок (redok)
• Malay: jarang (ms), nadir
• Maori: onge, ongeonge, mokomokorea, mokorea, mōmōhanga
• Navajo: bídin hóyééʼ
• Norman: rare (Jersey)
• Norwegian: skjelden
• Occitan: requist (oc), rar (oc), rare (oc), escàs (oc), arrarit
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: рѣдъкъ (rědŭkŭ)

• Old English: selden, seldlic
• Persian: کمیاب (fa) (kamyâb), نایاب (fa) (nâyâb), شاذ (fa) (šâzz)
• Polish: rzadki (pl)
• Portuguese: raro (pt)
• Romanian: rar (ro)
• Romansch: rar, rer
• Russian: ре́дкий (ru) (rédkij)
• Sanskrit: विरल (sa) (virala), दुर्लभ (sa) (durlabha)
• Sardinian: raru
• Scottish Gaelic: gann, ainneamh
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ре́дак, рије́дак

  Roman: rédak (sh), rijédak (sh)

• Sicilian: raru (scn)
• Simbanese: arôre
• Slovak: riedky, vzácny m
• Slovene: rédek (sl)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: rědki

• Spanish: escaso (es), raro (es), insólito (es), inusual (es), infrecuente (es), inhabitual, ralo (es)
• Swedish: sällsynt (sv), ovanlig (sv)
• Tagalog: bihira
• Telugu: అరుదు (te) (arudu), దుర్లభము (te) (durlabhamu)
• Turkish: nadir (tr), ender (tr), nadide (tr)
• Ukrainian: рідки́й (ridkýj), рі́дкісний (rídkisnyj)
• Urdu: شاذ (śāz)
• Venetan: raro
• Vietnamese: hiếm (vi)
• Welsh: prin (cy)
• Zazaki: nadir

thin density gas

• Bulgarian: рядък (bg) (rjadǎk), разреден (bg) (razreden)
• Catalan: rar (ca)
• Finnish: harva (fi)
• German: verdünnt (de)
• Korean: 희박(稀薄)하다 (ko) (huibakhada)
• Portuguese: rarefeito (pt)
• Romanian: rarefiat (ro)
• Russian: разрежённый (ru) m (razrežónnyj)
• Spanish: enrarecido (es), rarificado (es), ralo (es)

Noun

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

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)

1. (cooking) Particularly of meat, especially beefsteak: cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red.

   Antonym: well done

   • 1717, John Dryden, “Book VIII. [The Story of Baucis and Philemon.]”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 285:

     Then Curds and Cream, the Flow'r of Country Fare, / And new-laid Eggs, which Baucis’ buſie Care / Turn’d by a gentle Fire, and roaſted rare.

Derived terms

• medium rare
• Pittsburgh rare
• rare-ripe

 

Translations

cooked very lightly

• Belarusian: непрасмажаны (njeprasmažany), з крывёй (z kryvjój), з кроўю (z króŭju)
• Bulgarian: недоварен (bg) (nedovaren), недопечен (bg) (nedopečen)
• Catalan: cru (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 一分熟 (yīfēnshú)

• Czech: krvavý (cs)
• Danish: rød (da)
• Dutch: halfrauw, saignant (nl)
• Finnish: sisältä raaka, raaka (fi), verinen (fi)
• French: saignant (fr)
• German: blutig (de), englisch (de)
• Hebrew: נא (he) m (ná), נִמְרָשׁ (he) m (nimrásh) (unused)
• Hungarian: véres (hu)
• Italian: al sangue
• Japanese: レア (ja) (rea)
• Luxembourgish: bluddeg
• Maori: tūāmata, tōtoto
• Navajo: tʼóó shichʼilígo
• Polish: krwisty (pl)
• Portuguese: mal passado
• Romanian: în sânge
• Russian: непрожа́ренный (neprožárennyj), с кро́вью (s króvʹju), крова́вый (ru) (krovávyj), кровяни́стый (ru) (krovjanístyj)
• Spanish: crudo (es), poco hecho
• Swedish: blodig (sv)
• Yiddish: נישט־דערבראָטן (nisht-derbrotn)

Etymology 3

Variant of rear.

Verb

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

• 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)

1. (obsolete) Early.
   • 1614–1615, Homer, “The Sixth Book of Homer’s Odysseys”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume I, London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC, page 147, lines 420–423:

     The men, that sway / In work of those tools that so fit our state, / Are rude mechanicals, that rare and late / Work in the market-place;

     The spelling has been modernized.

References

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

Anagrams

• arré, rear

Danish

Adjective

rare

1. plural and definite singular attributive of rar

Dutch

Alternative forms

• raren (Brabant)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈraː.rə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

rare

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

Noun

rare m (plural raren, diminutive rareke n)

1. weird person

   Synonym: rare vogel

References

• [1]

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁaʁ/ ~ /ʁɑʁ/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

rare (plural rares)

1. rare

Derived terms

• métal rare
• oiseau rare
• perle rare
• rares averses
• rareté
• rarissime
• se faire rare
• terre rare

 

Further reading

• “rare”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• erra

German

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːʁə

Adjective

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrare/

Adverb

rare

1. rarely

   Antonyms: freque, ofte

Italian

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

rare

1. feminine plural of raro

Anagrams

• -arre, -rrea, erra

Latin

Etymology 1

From rārus +‎ -ē.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈraː.reː/, [ˈräːreː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈra.re/, [ˈräːre]

Adverb

rārē (comparative rārius, superlative rārissimē)

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

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈraː.re/, [ˈräːrɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈra.re/, [ˈräːre]

Adjective

rāre

1. 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

1. airy, vacuous
2. porous, breathable
3. sparsely spread
4. rare, uncommon, scarce
5. 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 2018-03-29.

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rārus.

Adjective

rare m or f

1. (Jersey) rare

Derived terms

• rarement (“rarely”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

rare

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

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

rare

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

Swedish

Adjective

rare

1. definite natural masculine singular of rar

Anagrams

• rear

Yola

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾɔː/

Adjective

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

• 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