Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗Very uncommon; scarce. · Small in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse. · Thin; of low density. · Good; enjoyable.
A scarce or uncommon item.
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
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionrareenm
- Derivation mentionrarefro
- Derivation mentionrārusla · loose, spaced apart, thin, infrequent
- Derivation mention*h₁reh₁-ine-pro · friable, thin
- Non-cognate comparisongesenenm
- Non-cognate comparisongǣsneang
- Non-cognate comparisonseldenm · rare, uncommon
- Non-cognate comparisonseldenang
- Non-cognate comparisonseldsceneenm · rare, rarely seen, infrequent
- Non-cognate comparisonseldsēneang
- Non-cognate comparisonselden
This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "rare"
},
"expansion": "Middle English rare"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "rare"
},
"expansion": "Old French rare"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "rārus",
"t": "loose, spaced apart, thin, infrequent"
},
"expansion": "Latin rārus (“loose, spaced apart, thin, infrequent”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*h₁reh₁-",
"t": "friable, thin"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“friable, thin”)"
},
{
"name": "m+",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "geason",
"t": "rare, scarce"
},
"expansion": "English geason (“rare, scarce”)"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "enm",
"2": "gesen"
},
"expansion": "Middle English gesen"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "gǣsne"
},
"expansion": "Old English gǣsne"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "enm",
"2": "seld",
"t": "rare, uncommon"
},
"expansion": "Middle English seld (“rare, uncommon”)"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "selden"
},
"expansion": "Old English selden"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "enm",
"2": "seldscene",
"t": "rare, rarely seen, infrequent"
},
"expansion": "Middle English seldscene (“rare, rarely seen, infrequent”)"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "seldsēne"
},
"expansion": "Old English seldsēne"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "seld"
},
"expansion": "English seld"
}
],
"links": [
[
"rare",
"rare#Middle_English"
],
[
"rare",
"rare#Old_French"
],
[
"rere",
"rere#Old_French"
],
[
"rārus",
"rarus#Latin"
],
[
"*h₁reh₁-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₁reh₁-"
],
[
"geason",
"geason#English"
],
[
"gesen",
"gesen#Middle_English"
],
[
"gǣsne",
"gæsne#Old_English"
],
[
"seld",
"seld#Middle_English"
],
[
"selden",
"selden#Old_English"
],
[
"seldscene",
"seldscene#Middle_English"
],
[
"seldsēne",
"seldsene#Old_English"
],
[
"seld",
"seld#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "adj",
"glosses": [
"Very uncommon; scarce.",
"Small in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse.",
"Thin; of low density.",
"Good; enjoyable."
],
"tags": [
"UK",
"slang"
],
"recordId": "531125ecae860d7de0c1d5ca9c41e8dac55dbabc63dd506d25705f620f3b5a18",
"rawRecordSha256": "cbbda839aead2fe196b08ec0620baccbd82935e97551daf3f501be0139148402",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 208712
},
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A scarce or uncommon item."
],
"tags": [],
"recordId": "972d925cd2b3d038bdaed9f4f29260edd4003310a004f8282271d1c69a085a0d",
"rawRecordSha256": "51949b629457a60b26ebd3cf1585129ab4d150f7d1057b381a7be31e0f55ffb7",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 208713
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 1,
"glosses": 0
}
}