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rare - 12 dictionary results
rare
1
[rair] 
–adjective, rar⋅er, rar⋅est.
| 1. | coming or occurring far apart in time; unusual; uncommon: a rare disease; His visits are rare occasions. |
| 2. | thinly distributed over an area; few and widely separated: Lighthouses are rare on that part of the coast. |
| 3. | having the component parts not closely compacted together; not dense: rare gases; lightheaded from the rare mountain air. |
| 4. | unusually great: a rare display of courage. |
| 5. | unusually excellent; admirable; fine: She showed rare tact in inviting them. |
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L rārus loose, wide apart, thin, infrequent
1350–1400; ME < L rārus loose, wide apart, thin, infrequent
Related forms:
rareness, noun
Synonyms:
1. exceptional, extraordinary, singular. 2. sparse, infrequent. 5. choice, incomparable, inimitable.
1. exceptional, extraordinary, singular. 2. sparse, infrequent. 5. choice, incomparable, inimitable.
Antonyms:
1. common. 2. frequent. 5. inferior.
1. common. 2. frequent. 5. inferior.
rare
2 [rair] –adjective, rar⋅er, rar⋅est.
| (of meat) cooked just slightly: He likes his steak rare. |
Origin:
1645–55; var. of earlier rear, ME rere, OE hrēr lightly boiled
1645–55; var. of earlier rear, ME rere, OE hrēr lightly boiled
Related forms:
rareness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To rare
| rare 1 (râr) adj. rar·er, rar·est
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin rārus.] rare'ness n. |
| rare 2 (râr) adj. rar·er, rar·est Cooked just a short time so as to retain juice and redness: a rare steak. [Middle English rere, lightly boiled, from Old English hrēr; see kerə- in Indo-European roots.] rare'ness n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Rare
Rare\, a. [Compar. Rarer; superl. Rarest.] [Cf. AS. hr[=e]r, or E. rare early.] 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. Note: This word is in common use in the United States, but in England its synonym underdone is preferred.Rare
Rare\, a. [Compar. Rarer; superl. 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, three 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. Usage: 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's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : rare
Spanish:
raro, poco común,
German:
selten,
Japanese:
珍しい
rare (adj.1)
"unusual," c.1420, originally "few in number and widely separated," from O.Fr. rere "sparse" (14c.), from L. rarus "thinly sown, having a loose texture," from PIE *er-, *ere- "to loose, split, separate" (cf. Skt. rte "besides, except," viralah "distant, tight, rare;" O.C.S. oriti "to dissolve, destroy;" Lith. irti "to dissolve;" O.C.S. rediku "rare;" Gk. eremos "solitary"). "Few in number," hence, "unusual" (1542). Rarity is attested from 1560, from M.Fr. rarité (16c.), from L. raritas "thinness, fewness," from rarus. In chemistry, rare earth is from 1875.
rare (adj.2)
"undercooked," 1655, variant of M.E. rere, from O.E. hrer "lightly cooked," probably related to hreran "to stir, move." Originally of eggs, not recorded in reference to meat until 1784, and according to OED, in this sense "formerly often regarded as an Americanism, although it was current in many English dialects ...."
rare (v.)
"rise up," 1833, dialectal variant of rear (v.). Sense of "eager" (in raring to go) first recorded 1909.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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