raro

Forms

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

Etymology

It is formed from rārus (“thin, scattered, rare”) with the adverb ending -ō.^[2][1] De Vaan finds no convincing origin for ⟨rārus⟩, the opposite of dēnsus (“thick”): Ernout and Meillet's link with Proto-Indo-European *h₂erH- (“to disappear”) is not obvious in meaning, and Schrijver rejects connections with rēte (“net”) and Ancient Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos, “lonely”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Plautus as its first author.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is rarely or seldom, with the comparative rārius and the superlatives rārissimē and rārissimō.^[2][1] In Seneca the superlative is “exceptionally”, of Balbillus, best of men and outstanding in every kind of learning.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “rarely, seldom, far apart”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^[4]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of an exceptional man.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Rarely, seldom.^[2][6][1][5]
2. Unusually, exceptionally.^[2]
3. Far apart.^[5]

Related words

• rārus
• rārenter
• dēnsus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press