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
- Not occurring or found often; uncommon.
- Unusually good; excellent.
- 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
Modern meaning
Adjective
- 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
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ 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
- ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ 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)