rare

Forms

rārē (comparative rārius, superlative rārissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin rārus (“loose, scattered; rare”) + -ē.^[2][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of rārus, whose own origin he finds unclear.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus, meaning “seldom”: the Rudens has rare capitur, “it is seldom caught”.^[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

Columella uses it in the literal sense “thinly, sparsely”, of sowing seed at wide intervals and of a bag woven with an open texture.^[2][5] According to Gellius, Varro did not accept rare as an adverb,^[2] and the usual adverb for “seldom” was rārō, with which the comparative and superlative are shared.^[2] Köbler records it only from Apuleius.^[6]

In British Medieval Latin it means “seldom, rarely”: Anselm writes that his letters greet his correspondents rarissime though his memory sees them every day.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for “seldom”.^[2][6]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it for “sparsely, loosely”.^[2][5][6]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius reports that Varro rejected it as an adverb.^[2][6]
• 2nd half of the 11th century–1109 – Anselm uses the superlative rarissime in his letters.^[7][6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. At wide intervals, sparsely, thinly; with an open texture, loosely.^[2][5]
2. Rarely, seldom.^[2][8][7]

Related words

• rārō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press