rare

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   not widely distributed

   rare herbs

2. 2
   adj

   of meat, cooked a short time

   I ordered my steak cooked rare.

3. 3
   adj

   recurring only at long intervals

   a rare appearance

4. 4
   adj

   having low density

   rare gasses

5. 5
   adj

   Very uncommon; scarce.

   Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.

6. 6
   adj

   Small in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse.

   The anterior and posterior skin of the upper chest and shoulders demonstrated irregularly jagged borders with areas of soot and charring focally. The soft and bony tissues underlying the borders were markedly damaged by presumed explosive injuries. There were rare abrasions and contusions of the chest and upper extremities. The lower extremities demonstrated rare abrasions and contusions as well as severe lacerations of the anteromedial knees with underlying fractures of the distal aspects of the femora (Image 4).

7. 7
   adj

   Good; enjoyable.

   Sees her reflection in a butcher shop. She finds it all quite rare That her meat's all vanity fair.

8. 8
   noun

   A scarce or uncommon item.

   Most of the time, you do this by trading low-valued rares for more valuable ones or trading uncommons for rares. Other times it's trading cards that are in print for ones that are out of print, or low-value rares for good uncommons.

Etymology

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 replaced Middle English seld (“rare, uncommon”) (from Old English selden) and Middle English seldscene (“rare, rarely seen, infrequent”) (from Old English seldsēne).