raro

Forms

raro (feminine rara, masculine plural raros, feminine plural raras, superlative rarísimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rārus (“loose, thin; few; infrequent”), a learned word.^[2][3][4][1] The inherited form of the same Latin word is ralo “sparse, thin”, a dissimilated variant recorded from 1335.^[3][2] The two forms were not told apart in meaning until the Golden Age.^[3] Already in Latin the word had moved from “of loose texture” to “infrequent”, by the link between density and frequency.^[5]

Learned forms of the Latin word are Italian raro, French rare, Catalan rar and Portuguese raro, while Italian rado, Romanian rar, Asturian ralu and ralo are inherited.^[6][7][8] In Catalan, Coromines treats the word as a learned or semi-learned word from the end of the 13th century.^[9] The form ⟨raro⟩ heard in Catalan speech came through Spanish, according to the DCVB.^[10]

The Latin adjective is the opposite of dēnsus.^[11] Its origin is unclear.^[11] It has been tied to a root *h₂erH- (“to disappear, perish”), and compared with Ancient Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos, “lonely”), but Schrijver rejects these links on formal and semantic grounds.^[11][1] Wiktionary also mentions a possible link with Lithuanian irti (“to dissolve, fall into ruin”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DEMel records raro in the Anales toledanos of 1219 and in the Libro de Alexandre (c. 1230–1250).^[12] Corominas dates the word only from Nebrija (c. 1495), who gives ralo as the main form and raro as its variant: rala cosa o rara “a sparse thing” and ralas o raras vezes “seldom”.^[2][3] So the first senses on record are “sparse” and “seldom, infrequent”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the Quijote ralo appears only once, of teeth, while raro is common for “extraordinary, infrequent” and also for “strange”.^[2] This division of the two forms still holds today.^[2] In 1535 a writer in Santo Domingo uses raro for “rare”: raro sería quien cogiere oro “rare would be the one who gathered gold”.^[13] Bénaben notes that Spanish added the idea of strangeness to that of rarity.^[14]

Autoridades put the physical sense first, “of little density, porous”, followed by “extraordinary” and “few in number”.^[15] Terreros added “precious, excellent”.^[16] By 1843 the Academy also defined it as “outstanding in its kind” and as “eccentric, given to singularity”.^[17] The 1899 edition tied the physical sense to rarefied gases.^[18] The current dictionary puts first the sense “behaving in an unusual way”.^[4] In chemistry raro is applied to the elements found in very small amounts, as in tierras raras “rare earths”.^[19][1] In Paraguay raro is also a noun, the typical figure of the countryman.^[20]

Timeline

• 1219 – raro in the Anales toledanos.^[12]
• c. 1230–1250 – the Libro de Alexandre.^[12]
• 1335 – first record of the inherited form ralo.^[3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija lists raro as a variant of ralo;^[2][3] Corominas's first record.^[2][3]
• 1535 – the first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[13]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines the physical sense, “extraordinary” and “few”.^[15]
• 1843 – the Academy adds “eccentric, given to singularity”.^[17]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology, Latin rarus.^[21]
• 1899 – the physical sense is tied to rarefied gases.^[18]

Meanings

Adjective

1. strange, odd: behaving in an unusual way: Hoy tu hermano está muy raro.^[4][1]
2. rare, extraordinary, uncommon or infrequent: Las tormentas son raras en esta época.^[4][1]
3. Scarce in its class or species.^[4]
4. Outstanding or excellent in its kind: una mujer de rara inteligencia.^[4][19]
5. Eccentric in temper or behaviour, given to standing out from others.^[4]
6. (physics, chemistry) Of a gas: rarefied, of little density.^[4]

Adverb

1. In a strange or unusual way.^[4]

Word family

• enrarecer
• rareza
• raridad
• raramente
• rarificar
• enrarecimiento

Related words

• ralo
• Latin rārus
• Italian raro
• French rare

Usage notes

Common phrases are rara vez “seldom”, de raro en raro “now and then” and bicho raro “an odd person”.^[4][1] Since the Golden Age raro means “rare, strange” and ralo “sparse, thin”, as in pelo ralo “thin hair”.^[2][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 786
3. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. raro
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. raro
5. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. raro
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. rarus
7. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2825
8. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. ralu
9. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 7, 112
10. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. rar
11. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. raro
13. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. ralo
14. ^ a b Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. raro
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 491
16. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 282
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 609
18. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 842
19. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. raro
20. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 700
21. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 897