Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Rare

Rare

(râr)
,
Adj.
[Cf.
Rather
,
Rath
.]
Early.
[Obs.]
Rude mechanicals that
rare
and late
Work in the market place.
Chapman.

Rare

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Rarer
(râr′ẽr)
;
sup
erl.
Rarest
.]
[Cf. AS.
hrēr
, or E.
rare
early. √18.]
Nearly raw; partially cooked; not thoroughly cooked; underdone;
as,
rare
beef or mutton
.
New-laid eggs, which Baucis’ busy care
Turned by a gentle fire, and roasted
rare
.
Dryden.
☞ This word is in common use in the United States, but in England its synonym
underdone
is preferred.

Rare

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Rarer
(râr′ẽr)
;
sup
erl.
Rarest
.]
[F., fr. L.
rarus
thin, rare.]
1.
Not frequent; seldom met with or occurring; unusual;
as, a
rare
event
.
2.
Of an uncommon nature; unusually excellent; valuable to a degree seldom found.
Rare
work, all filled with terror and delight.
Cowley.
Above the rest I judge one beauty
rare
.
Dryden.
3.
Thinly scattered; dispersed.
Those
rare
and solitary, these in flocks.
Milton.
4.
Characterized by wide separation of parts; of loose texture; not thick or dense; thin;
as, a
rare
atmosphere at high elevations
.
Water is nineteen times lighter, and by consequence nineteen times
rarer
, than gold.
Sir I. Newton.
Syn. – Scarce; infrequent; unusual; uncommon; singular; extraordinary; incomparable.
–
Rare
,
Scarce
. We call a thing rare when but few examples, specimens, or instances of it are ever to be met with;
as, a
rare
plant
. We speak of a thing as scarce, which, though usually abundant, is for the time being to be had only in diminished quantities;
as, a bad harvest makes corn
scarce
.
A perfect union of wit and judgment is one of the
rarest
things in the world.
Burke.
When any particular piece of money grew very
scarce
, it was often recoined by a succeeding emperor.
Addison.

Webster 1828 Edition

Rare

RARE

,
Adj.
[L. rarus, thin.]
1.
Uncommon; not frequent; as a rare event; a rare phenomenon.
2.
Unusually excellent; valuable to a degree seldom found.
Rare work, all fill'd with terror and delight.
Above the rest I judge one beauty rare.
3.
Thinly scattered.
4.
Thin; porous; not dense; as a rare and attenuate substance.
Water is nineteen times lighter and by consequence nineteen times rarer than gold.
5.
Nearly raw; imperfectly roasted or boiled; as rare beef or mutton; eggs roasted rare.

Definition 2024

rare

rare

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

rare ‎(comparative rarer or more rare, superlative rarest or most rare)

  1. (cooking, particularly meats) Cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red (in the case of steak or beef in the general sense).
    • Dryden
      New-laid eggs, which Baucis' busy care / Turned by a gentle fire, and roasted rare.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
  • medium-rare
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English rare, from Old French rare, rere ‎(“rare, uncommon”), from Latin rārus ‎(“loose, spaced apart, thin, infrequent”), from Proto-Indo-European *er(e)-, *rē- ‎(“friable, thin”). Replaced native Middle English gesen ("rare, scarce"; from Old English gǣsne), Middle English seld ("rare, uncommon"; from Old English selden), and Middle English seldsene ("rare, rarely seen, infrequent"; from Old Norse sialdsēnn; see seldsome).

Adjective

rare ‎(comparative rarer, superlative rarest)

  1. Very uncommon; scarce.
    Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.‎
    • 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
      Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
  2. (of a gas) Thin; of low density.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Etymology 3

Variant of rear.

Verb

rare ‎(third-person singular simple present rares, present participle raring, simple past and past participle rared)

  1. (US, intransitive) To rear, rise up, start backwards.
    • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 328:
      Frank pretended to rare back as if bedazzled, shielding his eyes with a forearm.
  2. (US, transitive) To rear, bring up, raise.
Usage notes
  • (Discuss(+) this sense) Principal current, non-literary use is of the present participle raring with a verb in "raring to". The principal verb in that construction is go. Thus, raring to go ("eager (to start something)") is the expression in which rare is most often encountered as a verb.

Etymology 4

Compare rather, rath.

Adjective

rare ‎(comparative more rare, superlative most rare)

  1. (obsolete) early
    • Chapman
      Rude mechanicals that rare and late / Work in the market place.

Anagrams

Danish

Adjective

rare

  1. definite of rar
  2. plural of rar

Dutch

Pronunciation

Adjective

rare

  1. Inflected form of raar

French

Etymology

From Latin rārus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʁɑʁ/

Adjective

rare m, f ‎(plural rares)

  1. rare

Derived terms

Anagrams

German

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -aːʁə

Adjective

rare

  1. inflected form of rar

Ido

Adverb

rare

  1. rarely

Antonyms

Italian

Adjective

rare f pl

  1. feminine plural of raro

Anagrams

Latin

Adjective

rāre

  1. vocative masculine singular of rārus

References

Norman

Etymology

From Latin rārus.

Adjective

rare m, f

  1. (Jersey) rare

Derived terms

Swedish

Adjective

rare

  1. absolute definite natural masculine form of rar.

Etymology

From a dialectal variant of rear, from Middle English rere, from Old English hrēr, hrēre ‎(“not thoroughly cooked, underdone, lightly boiled”), from hrēran ‎(“to move, shake, agitate”), from Proto-Germanic *hrōzijaną ‎(“to stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱera-, *ḱrā- ‎(“to mix, stir, cook”). Related to Old English hrōr ‎(“stirring, busy, active, strong, brave”). More at rear.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɹɛə/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ɹɛəɹ/
  • Rhymes: -ɛə(r)

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