Etymologically
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seldom

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈsɛldəm/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English selden, later seldom,[2][3][4] inherited from Old English seldan (“rarely”), also seldon and seldum.[5][2][6] The form seldum arose by analogy with adverbs that were dative plurals, such as hwīlum (“at times”), the source of whilom.[7][8][3][9] The Old English adverb is inherited from Proto-Germanic *seldanē,[10] from a Germanic base *selda- (“strange, rare”),[8][11][6] and is cognate with Old Norse sjaldan, Old Frisian sielden, Middle Low German selden, Middle Dutch selden, Dutch zelden, Old High German seltan and German selten.[6][12][8] The same base appears in seldliċ (“strange, wonderful”) and Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (sildaleiks, “wonderful”).[6][12][13] Its further origin is uncertain:[8] Etymonline suggests the base of self, Merriam-Webster compares Latin sed (“without”) and suus (“one's own”),[8][2] and Orel derives it from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to jump”), comparing Latin saliō.[10] Johnson thought it a contraction of an Old English word for "rare" and hwænne (“when”).[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

On few occasions, rarely: in Old English, in King Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care;[7] Barnhart dates seldum to before 900.[3]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has hardly changed since Old English.[7][8] Old English had a comparative seldor and a superlative seldost, and when seldan changed form in early Middle English, a positive selde was formed back from them.[8][5] The forms in -n became rarer from the 14th century and disappeared in the 16th.[8] Compounds of the old form survived for a time, such as selcouth, strange or wonderful, and Shakespeare's seld-shown, rarely seen.[8] The construction it is seldom that dates from 1390, in Gower.[7] Seldom ever has been used since Old English, and the confused seldom or ever, a blend of seldom if ever and seldom or never, from 1752 to 1873.[7] The adjective, rare or infrequent, is recorded from 1483 and is now chiefly American;[7] Merriam-Webster dates it to the 13th century.[2] The English Dialect Dictionary records not very seldom, not very often, in Hertfordshire, and seldom ever, hardly ever.[15]

Timeline

  • before 900 – seldan, seldum, rarely.[7][3]
  • c. 1150 – Middle English selden.[3]
  • before 1300 – the form seldom.[3]
  • 1390 – it is seldom that.[7]
  • 1483 – adjective, rare, infrequent.[7]
  • 1752 – seldom or ever (obsolete by 1873).[7]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Not often; rarely or infrequently: We seldom see him since he moved to the coast.[16][2][7]

Adjective

  1. Rare or infrequent: one of her seldom visits.[2][7]

Word family

  • seldomness
  • whilom
  • selcouth

Usage notes

In seldom ever the ever is pleonastic,[7] and seldom or ever arose from confusion of seldom if ever with seldom or never.[7] The adjective is now chiefly American.[7]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  10. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  12. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  15. ^ 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)
  16. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins