rare Latin · revision 34710
20 Oct 2026, 15:35 by bogdan “Latin la10k batch la75zzj grp01 (15 entries)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la rārus}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * Classical: [ˈraː.reː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈraː.re]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''rārē''' (comparative rārius, superlative rārissimē)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[af|la|rārus|-ē|t1=loose, scattered; rare]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of [[m|la|rārus]], whose own origin he finds unclear.^(de Vaan 2008)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ It is first found in Plautus, meaning “seldom”: the ''Rudens'' has ''rare capitur'', “it is seldom caught”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(de Vaan 2008)
+
+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) According to Gellius, Varro did not accept ''rare'' as an adverb,^(OLD 2012) and the usual adverb for “seldom” was [[rārō]], with which the comparative and superlative are shared.^(OLD 2012) Köbler records it only from Apuleius.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ In British Medieval Latin it means “seldom, rarely”: Anselm writes that his letters greet his correspondents ''rarissime'' though his memory sees them every day.^(DMLBS)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for “seldom”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1st century AD – Columella uses it for “sparsely, loosely”.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius reports that Varro rejected it as an adverb.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 2nd half of the 11th century–1109 – Anselm uses the superlative ''rarissime'' in his letters.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adverb===
+ # At wide intervals, [[m|en|sparsely]], thinly; with an open texture, [[m|en|loosely]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)
+ # [[m|en|rarely|alt=Rarely]], [[m|en|seldom]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(DMLBS)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[rārō]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}