rarus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *rāros, probably from Proto-Indo-European *h₁r̥h₁rós, from *h₁reh₁- (“to separate”) (though Schrijver and de Vaan are skeptical). Cognate with Ancient Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos, “lonely”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈraː.rus/, [ˈräːrʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈra.rus/, [ˈräːrus]

Adjective

rārus (feminine rāra, neuter rārum, comparative rārior, superlative rārissimus, adverb rārō or rārē); first/second-declension adjective

1. scattered, far apart
2. seldom, few
3. rare, uncommon
4. thin, loose

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	rārus	rāra	rārum		rārī	rārae	rāra
Genitive	rārī	rārae	rārī		rārōrum	rārārum	rārōrum
Dative	rārō		rārō		rārīs
Accusative	rārum	rāram	rārum		rārōs	rārās	rāra
Ablative	rārō	rārā	rārō		rārīs
Vocative	rāre	rāra	rārum		rārī	rārae	rāra

Derived terms

• rallus
• rārenter
• rāripilus
• rāriter
• rāritās
• rāritūdō
• rārē
• rārēfaciō
• rārēscō
• rārō

 

Descendants

• → Albanian: rrallë
• → Asturian: raru
• → Danish: rar
• → Middle Dutch: raer
  • Dutch: raar
• → Middle English: rare, rere
  • English: rare
• → Faroese: rárur
• → French: rare
• → German: rar
• → Norwegian: rar
• → Portuguese: raro
• → Spanish: raro
• → Swedish: rar
• Aromanian: rar
• Asturian: ralu
• Catalan: rar
• Friulian: râr
• Galician: raro
• Italian: rado, raro
• Occitan: rar
• Old French: rer
• Portuguese: ralo
• Romanian: rar
• Romansch: rar, rer
• Sardinian: raru
• Sicilian: raru
• Spanish: ralo
• Venetian: raro

References

• “rarus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “rarus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• rarus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • preparations for war; war-material: apparatus (rare in plur.) belli
    
  • in open order: raris ordinibus
    
  • to fight in skirmishing order: rari dispersique pugnare (B. C. 1. 44)
    
• “rarus”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎^[2]
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 514