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Added 9 October 2026

rare

/ɹɛə/ adjective

In Latin: rārus Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about rare at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Very uncommon; scarce.
Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.
Small in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse.
Thin; of low density.

noun

A scarce or uncommon item.

adjective

Particularly of meat, especially beefsteak: cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red.

verb

To rear, rise up, start backwards.
To rear, bring up, raise.

Origin

From Middle English rare, from Old French rare, rere (“rare, uncommon”), from Latin rārus (“loose, spaced apart, thin, infrequent”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“friable, thin”). Displaced native English geason (“rare, scarce”) (from Middle English gesen, from Old English gǣsne); and largely displaced Middle English seld (“rare, uncommon”) (from Old English selden) and Middle English seldscene (“rare, rarely seen, infrequent”) (from Old English seldsēne) hence modern English seld

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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