rare

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʁaʁ/^[1]
• IPA: /ʁɑʁ/^[1]

Forms

rare (plural rares)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rārus (“loose, sparse; few; infrequent; exceptional”),^[2][3][1][4] a learned remodelling (Oresme, 1377) of the inherited Old French rer or rere (late 12th century), which was limited to Old French.^[2][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg note the inherited adverb rerement in the 12th and 13th centuries.^[3]

Rey reports a tentative connection of the Latin adjective with ratis (“raft”), with the idea of an open framework, and a root shared with Lithuanian irti (“to fall apart”), though the link remains vague.^[5] Cognate with Old Occitan rar, Spanish raro and Italian raro; the inherited forms are Italian rado and Spanish ralo.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The inherited rere appears in the late 12th century in the Moralités sur Job in the sense “uncommon, remarkable”: Mult est rere chose….^[2][7] The learned rare first appears in Oresme (1377) in the Latin physical sense “not dense, thin”, of water and air.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Gautier de Coinci (about 1225) has rere for “seldom met with”, and rare takes that sense in Robert Estienne (1539); from 1504–09 it also means “infrequent” of events.^[2][5] From the mid-16th century it has the Latin qualitative sense “exceptional” (1553, Olivier de Magny), often with the idea of something precious (livres rares), and, from the 17th century a nuance of oddness (1694, un homme rare).^[5][2]

By Latinism it took again the sense “not dense” (1555), whence “thin, sparse” of hair or grass (1636).^[5][2] Oiseau rare (1636) is a calque of Horace's rara avis, used figuratively by La Fontaine (1665).^[2][5] Chemistry has terres rares (1898) and gaz rares (1916), after English.^[2]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – Rere “remarkable”, Moralités sur Job.^[2]
• 1377 – Rare “not dense”, Oresme.^[2]
• 1504–09 – “Infrequent”, Jean Lemaire de Belges.^[2]
• 1539 – “Seldom found”, Robert Estienne.^[2]
• 1544 – The derivative rarissime.^[3]
• 1553 – “Of exceptional merit”, Olivier de Magny.^[2]
• 1636 – Oiseau rare and “sparse”, Monet.^[2]
• 1898 – Terres rares in chemistry.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. rare: seldom found, existing in few examples: timbres rares, mot rare, a little-used word, oiseau rare, a rare bird, an exceptional person.^[9][1]
2. Infrequent: ses visites sont rares, il est rare que, it seldom happens that.^[9][10]
3. Few in number, scarce.^[10][9]
4. Exceptional, remarkable: d'une rare beauté.^[10][5]
5. Thin, sparse: cheveux rares.^[9][5]
6. (chemistry) Gaz rares, the noble gases, terres rares, rare earths.^[2]

Word family

• rarement
• rareté
• rarissime
• raréfier

Related words

• Latin rārus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 75a
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse