rare

English has two words spelled rare: “uncommon”, from Latin rarus, and “lightly cooked”, from Old English hrēr.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /reə/, US /rer/^[4]

rare¹ uncommon

Etymology

The uncommon sense is inherited from Middle English rere, also rare,^[1] borrowed from Old French rer (“sparse, hard to find”),^[5][1] and directly from Latin rārus (“thinly sown, loose in texture, infrequent”),^[5][1][6] the opposite of densus;^[5] its origin is uncertain,^[1] and Merriam-Webster suggests a link with Latin rēte (“net”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Thin, airy, porous, of a substance: 1392 in Barnhart,^[1] the late 14th century in Etymonline,^[5] and about 1420 in the OED.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From “having its particles far apart” came “few in number”, which led to “unusual”.^[5] Widely spaced, sparsely distributed and seldom found is from the mid-15th century,^[5][7] and “uncommon, exceptional” from 1447.^[1] “Uncommonly good” is from the late 15th century, in Caxton,^[5] and Barnhart cites Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice (1596) for “unusually good or great”.^[1] Rare earth in chemistry is from 1818.^[5] Rarity meant “thinness” before 1425 and “something rare” from 1592.^[1] In many dialects rare meant “fine, splendid” and was also an intensive adverb.^[8]

Timeline

• 1392 – thin, airy.^[1]
• 1447 – uncommon.^[1]
• late 15th century – uncommonly good.^[5]
• 1592 – rarity, a rare thing.^[1]
• 1818 – rare earth.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Not occurring or found often; uncommon.
2. Unusually good; excellent.
3. Thin in density: rare mountain air.

Word family

• rarely
• rareness
• rarity
• rarefy

rare² lightly cooked

Etymology

The cooking sense is inherited from Middle English rere,^[1] inherited from Old English hrēr (“lightly cooked”),^[5][1] probably related to hrēran (“to stir, move”),^[1][5] from Proto-Germanic *hrōrijaną,^[5] which is reconstructed from Proto-Indo-European *kere- (“to mix, confuse; cook”).^[5] Old English hrēran is cognate with Dutch roeren and German rühren “to stir”.^[1][5] The modern form is a variant of dialectal rear,^[1][2] altered after rare¹.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of eggs, soft-cooked: 1655 for the form rare,^[1][7] the 1650s in Etymonline.^[5] Old English hrēr is from about 1000.^[1]

Semantic evolution

It was used at first of eggs, and of meat from 1784.^[1][5] The OED notes that it was once thought an Americanism, though it was current in many English dialects and used by English writers in the early 19th century.^[5][7]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Old English hrēr.^[1]
• 1655 – of eggs, soft-cooked.^[1][7]
• 1784 – of meat.^[1][5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of meat, cooked lightly so that the inside is still red.

Related words

• rear
• dense

Usage notes

A third word, the American verb rare “to rise on the hind legs”, from 1833, is a dialect form of rear,^[1][5] and raring to go is recorded from 1909.^[1][5] Etymonline quotes the Century Dictionary: rare says that few of a kind exist, while scarce implies that there were once, or usually are, more.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)