English → Latin
“rare” in Latin
rārusscattered; far apart; seldom; few; rare; uncommonīnsolitusunaccustomed; unusualīnsolēnsunusual; contrary to custom or one’s own custom; arrogant, haughty, insolentmīruswonderful, marvelous, amazing, surprising, miraculousnovusnew, novel; fresh, young; recentconquīrōto seek for, hunt up, search out eagerly or carefully, go in quest of; to collect, bring together; to investigate, searcexquīrōto seek or seek out, search for or hunt up; to inquire intoeximiusselect, choice; special, particular, exceptional, remarkable, extraordinary; exemptēgregiusdistinguished, excellent, eminent; illustrious, honorablepraestōto be preferable, better, coupled with quam; to be outstanding, be exceeding in something, to excel, stand out, be super
The English word rare itself goes back to Latin rārus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
rare
Of unfrequent occurrence, rarus: (unusual, uncommon), insolitus; insolens: (strange), mirus; novus.
Excellent, select, etc., conquisitus: conquisitus et electus: exquisitus: eximius: egregius: praestans: rarest, conquisitissimus (☞ rarus, in this sense, is poetical): rare wines, veterrima vina.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for rare?
- The usual Latin words for “rare” are rārus, īnsolitus, īnsolēns; also mīrus, novus, conquīrō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.