rar

Forms

rar m or n (feminine singular rară, masculine plural rari, feminine/neuter plural rare)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rārus (“loose, sparse, rare”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Its Romance cognates include Italian rado and raro, French rare, Occitan rar, Spanish raro and Portuguese raro.^[2][6] It survives as Aromanian rar.^[1][7] Ciorănescu also lists Aromanian area, which Papahagi derives from Modern Greek ἀραιά (araiá, “sparsely”).^[2][8]

The Latin adjective is the opposite of dēnsus; its further origin is uncertain, and a link with Ancient Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos, “lonely”) is disputed.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Coresi's Omiliar of 1581.^[10] In Dosoftei's verse psalter (1673) man passes „ca o umbră rară” “like a thin shadow”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is physical: of things whose parts lie far apart, such as thin hair, a sparse forest or a loose weave.^[10][4] Miron Costin wrote of a time „când lumea încă era mai rară în oameni” “when the world was still thinly peopled”.^[10] From “sparse” come “few, seldom found” and “unusual, exceptional”, and so “choice, precious”, as in piatră rară “precious stone”.^[4][2] As an adverb it means “seldom” and also “slowly”, as in a vorbi rar “to speak slowly”.^[2][11] In some regions rară names a wide-meshed fishing net.^[4]

Romanian derivatives include arar and rareori “seldom”, rări “to thin out”, rărime and răriș “clearing”.^[2] The nickname Rareș seems to have described a small person, or, according to Tiktin, one with thin hair.^[2] The learned raritate came from Latin rāritās in the 19th century, and rarisim from French.^[2]

Timeline

• 1581 – rar in Coresi's Omiliar, the first record.^[10]
• 1673 – umbră rară “thin shadow” in Dosoftei's verse psalter.^[10]
• 19th century – the learned raritate “rarity”, from Latin.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Set far apart from others of the same kind, sparse.^[4][3]
2. Of a whole: with its parts wider apart than usual, thin or loose: o țesătură rară “a loose weave”.^[4][3]
3. Happening at long intervals or at a slow pace.^[4][3]
4. Few in number, found in few places; uncommon, exceptional.^[4][3][1]
5. Choice, precious: piatră rară “precious stone”.^[4]

Adverb

1. seldom, at long intervals.^[4][11][1]
2. At a distance from one another: plantele au fost semănate rar “the plants were sown thinly”.^[11]
3. slowly, without haste.^[11][2]

Noun

1. (regional, as rară) A fishing net with a wide mesh.^[4]

Word family

• arar
• rări
• rărime
• răriș
• rareori

Related words

• raritate
• Latin rārus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. rar
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 625
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 912
5. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 128
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7067
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 115
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 137
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. rar
11. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. rar