adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective
rārus1
rārus (feminine rāra, neuter rārum, comparative rārior, superlative rārissimus or rārissumus, adverb rārō or rārē or rārenter or rāriter)
Classical[ˈraː.rʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈraː.rus]
№ 752 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- adjectivescattered; far apart
- adjectiveseldom; few
- adjectiverare; uncommon
- adjectivethin; loose
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
quod nōn saepe invenītur; rēs rārae magnō pretiō sunt.rārus -a -um — in Mille Verba, Mercātus
nōn saepe inventusrārus -a -um — in IVLIANVS I: Gallia, ch. 22
scattered, thin; rare
rārus -a -um — in De Bello Gallico III
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | rārus | rāra | rārum |
| genitive | rārī | rārae | rārī |
| dative | rārō | rārae | rārō |
| accusative | rārum | rāram | rārum |
| ablative | rārō | rārā | rārō |
| vocative | rāre | rāra | rārum |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | rārī | rārae | rāra |
| genitive | rārōrum | rārārum | rārōrum |
| dative | rārīs | rārīs | rārīs |
| accusative | rārōs | rārās | rāra |
| ablative | rārīs | rārīs | rārīs |
| vocative | rārī | rārae | rāra |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- raris ordinibus
- in open order.
- rari dispersique pugnare (B. C. 1. 44)
- to fight in skirmishing order.
rārus, a, um, adj. etym. dub.; cf. Sanscr. root rah-, to abandon,
I. having wide interstices between its parts, of a loose texture, not thick or dense, thin (opp. densus; freq. and class.).
I. Lit.:
denseri poterunt ignes, rarique relinqui, Lucr. 1, 656; cf.: (terra) Rara sit an supra morem si densa requiras ... Densa magis Cereri, rarissima quaeque Lyaeo, Verg. G. 2, 227 sq.; 1, 419: textura, Lucr. 4, 196; cf. retia, Verg. A. 4, 131; Hor. Epod. 2, 33: tunica, Ov. Am. 1, 5, 13; and: cribrum, id. M. 12, 437: rariores silvae, the thinner, clearer parts of the forest, Tac. Agr. 37: seges, Col. 2, 9, 6: corpus (opp. solidae res), Lucr. 1, 347; 2, 860; 6, 631 al.: aër, id. 2, 107; cf. in the comp., id. 6, 1024: manus, i.e. with the fingers spread apart, Quint. 11, 3, 103: raraque non fracto vestigia pulvere pendent, i.e. scarcely visible, Stat. Th. 6, 640.—II. Transf.
A. Of things which stand apart from each other, far apart, here and there, scattered, thin, scanty ( = disjectus;
opp. densus, confertus): cum raris disjectisque ex aedificiis pabulum conquireretur, Hirt. B. G. 8, 10; cf.: vides habitari in terrā raris et angustis in locis, scattered, Cic. Rep. 6, 19, 20: apparent rari nantes, Verg. A. 1, 118: foramina, Lucr. 5, 457: bacae expanduntur rarae, Plin. 17, 10, 11, § 60: frutices in vertice, Ov. H. 10, 25: coma, id. Am. 1, 8, 111; cf. capillus. Suet. Calig. 50: racemi, Verg. E. 5, 7: umbra, id. ib. 7, 46: arbores, Nep. Milt. 5, 3: tela, Ov. M. 12, 600 et saep. — Poet.: manat rara meas lacrima per genas, drop by drop, Hor. C. 4, 1, 34. —2. In partic., in military lang., far apart, here and there, scattered about, dispersed, straggling, single (opp. confertus). accedebat huc, ut numquam conferti, sed rari magnisque intervallis proeliarentur, Caes. B. G. 5, 16; cf.:
rari in confertos illati, Liv. 23, 27: ipsi ex silvis rari propugnabant, Caes. B. G. 5, 9; 5, 17; 7, 45; 7, 80; id. B. C. 1, 27 fin.: Samnites raris ordinibus constiterant, Liv. 9, 27; Curt. 4, 14, 14: rara est acies, Verg. A. 9, 508: rarior acies, Tac. H. 3, 25; Front. Strat. 3, 10, 4: rarior acies, Curt. 4, 15, 20: ut ordines suos non magnopere servarent. rari dispersique pugnarent, Caes. B. C. 1, 44; cf. Tac. Agr. 37 fin.; Front. Strat. 1, 5, 23.— B. Of any thing found in small numbers or which seldom takes place, few, rare (cf. paucus):
in omni arte ... ut in ipsă virtute, optimum quidque rarissimum, Cic. Fin. 2, 25, 81; cf.: rarum genus (amicorum) et quidem omnia praeclara rara, id. Lael. 21, 79: raris ac prope nullis portibus, Caes. B. G. 3, 12 fin.; cf.: etiamsi rarus ejus rei, nonnullus tamen usus, Quint. 8, 6, 30: rarus enim est animus ad ea defendenda, Sall. H. 3, 61, 7 Dietsch: Idem rarum est, non sine usu tamen, Quint. 5, 11, 42: rari domos, plurimi amicorum tecta ... petivere, Tac. H. 1, 79 fin.: Oceanus raris ab orbe nostro navibus aditur, id. G. 2: aliquod solitarium aut rarum, Cic. Inv. 1, 44, 83: ut anteponantur rara vulgaribus, id. Top. 18, 69: litterae, Liv. 6, 1; cf. id. 7, 3: rara hostium apparebant arma, id. 2, 50: lites, Quint. 7, 1, 43: infelicitas, id. 11, 2, 49: quae (littera) est apud nos rarissima in clausulis, id. 12, 10, 31: quod est magis rarum, id. 9, 2, 73: ex maxime raro genere hominum, Cic. Lael. 17, 64; cf. Quint. 7, 3, 25: raris vocibus hisco, Verg. A. 3, 314: rara per ignotos errent animalia montes, id. E. 6, 40: audiet pugnas vitio parentum Rara juventus, Hor. C. 1, 2, 24. —Rarum est, with ut: rarum est, ut, etc., Quint. 3, 10, 3; 6, 3, 38; 10, 7, 24: rarum dictu, esse aliquid, cui prosit neglegentia, Plin. 18, 16, 39, § 140.—b. Mostly poet. and in post-Aug. prose for the adv. raro, seldom, rarely:
nec Iliacos coetus nisi rarus adibat, Ov. M. 11, 766; cf.: rarus, qui tam procul a portu recessisset, reperiebatur, Quint. 12, prooem. § 3; so, rarus fuit, qui, etc., id. 6, 2, 3: antiquis scriptoribus rarus obtrectator, Tac. A. 4, 33; Sall. H. Fragm. 3, 22, p. 233 Gerl.: Caesar rarus egressu, Tac. A. 15, 53; cf.: leones rari in potu, Plin. 8, 16, 18, § 46: (calculus) rarus inventu, id. 28, 15, 61, § 217; cf.: helxine rara visu est, id. 21, 16, 56, § 96: Homerus alias circa picturas pigmentaque rarus, i. e. rarely speaks of them, id. 33, 7, 38, § 115— 2. Poet., in partic., uncommon of its kind, scarce, rare, extraordinary, remarkable:
rara puella fuit, Prop. 1, 17, 16; so, Cynthia, id. 1, 8, 42: ministra deae, id. 4 (5), 11, 52; cf.: rara quidem facie, sed rarior arte canendi, Ov. M. 14, 337: facies, id. H. 17, 93 Ruhnk.: vestis, Cat. 69, 3: avis (sc. pavo), Hor. S. 2, 2, 26: fides, id. C. 1, 35, 21: artis opus rarae, Tib. 3, 4, 37: patulis rarissima ramis, Ov. M. 7, 622: rarissima turba, id. A. A. 2, 281: rarissimi ingenii homo, Sen. Contr. 28: conjux rarissima, Stat. S. 5, 1, 11.— Hence, adv., usually raro (class.), but sometimes rare (ante - class. and postAug.), rarenter (ante- and post - class.), or rariter (late Lat.). A. Form rārō:
raro nimium dabat quod biberem, Plaut. Cist. 1, 1, 20: potavi, edi, donavi, et enim id raro, id. Bacch. 4, 10, 6: si id, quod raro fit, fieri omnino negetur, Cic. Inv. 1, 43, 80: evenire insolenter et raro (opp. vulgo), id. ib. 1, 28, 43: vinum aegrotis prodest raro, nocet saepissime, id. N. D. 3, 27, 69; id. de Or. 3, 52, 101; cf. id. Or. 24, 80: sed tamen raro habet in oratione poeticum aliquod verbum dignitatem, id. de Or. 3, 38, 153: raro antecedentem scelestum Deseruit poena, Hor. C. 3, 2, 31: admodum raro, Cic. Fat. Fragm. ap. Macr. S. 2, 12; for which we find raro admodum, Quint. 11, 1, 14; Plin. 2, 50, 51, § 135: raro umquam, Quint. 4, 1, 4; 5, 7, 22; Plin. 22, 22, 46, § 93: ita raro, Cic. Rosc. Am. 13, 37: sic raro, Hor. S. 2, 3, 1: tam raro, Ov. M. 13, 117: quam raro, Plaut. Bacch. 4, 4, 25: perquam raro, Plin. 37, 4, 15, § 55.— Comp.: quod si rarius fiet, quam tu exspectabis, Cic. Fam. 1, 7, 1.— Sup.: istud rarissime accidere, Col. 5, 5, 7: non affari nisi rarissime, Suet. Claud. 3.—B. Form rārē (acc. to I.), far apart, thinly, sparsely, here and there:
nisi rare conseritur, vanam et minutam spicam facit, Col. 2, 9, 5: tenui vimine rarius contextus saccus, id. 9, 15, 12.—2. (Acc. to II. B.) Of time, seldom, rarely:
vero rare capitur (piscis), Plaut. Rud. 4, 3, 56.— C. Form rārenter, seldom, rarely:
dato rarenter bibere, Cato, R. R. 103; so, rarenter, Liv. And., Enn., Caecil., Nov., Trab., Pompon. ap. Non. 515, 23 sq.; 164, 25 sq.; App. Flor. 3, p. 357, 22. — D. Form rārĭter (very rare): quidquid fit rariter, magis delectat, Schol. Juv. 11, 208.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
rārus adj.
with comp. and sup, of loose texture, thin, rare, not thick: (terra) opp. densa, V.: retia, with large meshes, V.: tunica, O.: rariores silvae, thinner, Ta.—With large intervals, far apart, here and there, scattered, thin, scanty: vides habitari in terrā raris et angustis in locis, scattered: Apparent rari nantes, V.: frutices in vertice, O.: umbra, V.: arbores, N.: Manat rara meas lacrima per genas, drop by drop, H.—Of soldiers, in open order, far apart, scattered, dispersed, straggling, single: ut numquam conferti, sed rari magnisque intervallis proeliarentur, Cs.: rari in confertos inlati, L.: ordines, L.: rarior acies, Cu.—Infrequent, scarce, sparse, few, rare: in omni arte, optimum quidque rarissimum: raris ac prope nullis portibus, Cs.: Oceanus raris ab orbe nostro navibus aditur, Ta.: rara hostium apparebant arma, L.: vitio parentum Rara iuventus, H.: rarus adibat (i. e. raro), O.—Plur n. as subst: rara (anteponantur) volgaribus.—Uncommon, scarce, rare, extraordinary, remarkable: Rara quidem facie, sed rarior arte canendi, O.: avis (sc. pavo), H.: rarissima turba, O.
Origins
Uncertain. Possibly related to Lithuanian i̇̀rti (“to dissolve, fall into ruin”) and Proto-Slavic *oriti. It has also been compared to Ancient Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos, “lonely”), but this may be phonetically difficult if certain sound laws involving laryngeals and *r are accepted. More information *Beekes 2010 and Schrijver 1991 assume Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos) must be from a root of the form *h₁reh₁-. Schrijver 1991 therefore denies that ἐρῆμος (erêmos) and rārus are cognates, because per Schrijver's sound laws, no gradation of *h₁reh₁- can regularly give rise to Latin rār-: *h₁r̥h₁rós would give Latin *rarus with short -a- (compare ratus from *h₂rh₁tós), whereas *h₁reh₁rós would give Latin *rērus with long -ē-. Schrijver is uncertain whether i̇̀rti and *oriti are cognate with Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos) or with Latin rārus: in the latter case, Schrijver assumes Latin rā- came from *Hreh₂-, with schwebeablaut. Beekes treats derivation of rārus from zero-grade *h₁r̥h₁-ro- as possible, without explicitly addressing Schrijver's argument that this should be expected to yield *rar-. *Woodhouse 2011 postulates different sound laws, assuming that Greek initial ἐρ- (er-) can come either from PIE *h₁r- or PIE *r- and that PIE *rHC- became Latin ra- with short -a-, whereas PIE *HrHC- became Latin rā- with long -ā-. Based on these assumptions, Woodhouse derives ratus from a root starting with *r- (instead of *h₁r as postulated by Schrijver) and assumes that Latin rārus might show rā- as the regular outcome of earlier *h₂rH-, from the zero-grade of a root *h₂erH- shared with i̇̀rti. De Vaan 2008 mentions *h₂erH- (“to disappear, perish”) as a possible root of rārus but dismisses it as semantically unlikely.
Descendants
- Englishrarefrom Middle English rare
- Frenchrare
- Germanrar
- Portugueseraro
- Spanishraro
- Catalanrar
- Italianrado
- Italianraro
- Occitanrar
- Portugueseralo
In English words that came into English from rārus
- rarerārus
- rarityrāritās
- rarefyrarefacere
- rarissimarārissima