perraro

Forms

perrārō (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- + rārō (“seldom”),^[2] or, as Georges and Köbler have it, the adverb of perrārus (“very rare”).^[3][4] rārō is the adverb of rārus (“thin, rare”), whose origin de Vaan leaves open: links with Proto-Indo-European *h₂erH- (“to disappear, perish”) and with Ancient Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos, “lonely”) have been proposed, and Schrijver is critical of all of them.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Georges cites it first from the Rhetorica ad Herennium,^[3][4] and Cicero has id quod perraro evenit, “a thing that very rarely happens”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It keeps the one sense “very rarely”, in Cicero, Horace and later writers.^[3][6] Medieval British writers use it too: Alcuin writes te perraro oculis vidi meis, “I have very rarely seen you with my own eyes”, it occurs in Lanfranc's letters and in Gerald of Wales, and a council of 1258 sets sins that commonly happen against those that happen very rarely.^[7]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a thing that very rarely happens.^[6][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it in the Satires.^[6][4]
• 1258 – A council uses it of sins that happen very rarely.^[7]
• 1279 – Archbishop Peckham uses it in a letter.^[7]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Very seldom, extremely rarely.^[2][3][6]

Related words

• perrārus
• rārō

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press