rar

See also: RAR, rár, râr, and rår

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Rarotongan.

Symbol

rar

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Cook Islands Māori.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Rarotongan terms

English

Noun

rar (plural rars)

1. Alternative letter-case form of RAR.

Anagrams

• arr

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• raru

Etymology

From Latin rārus (“seldom”). Compare Romanian rar.

Adjective

rar

1. sparse, thin
2. scarce, few
3. rare, unusual, uncommon

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rārus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈrar]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ

Adjective

rar (feminine rara, masculine plural rars, feminine plural rares)

1. rare (very uncommon; scarce)

   Antonym: comú

2. strange, odd

   Synonyms: estrany, anormal

   Antonym: normal

3. rare (of a gas: thin)

Derived terms

• rarament
• raresa
• rarificar

Related terms

• raritat

References

• “rar”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “rar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “rar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “rar”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Danish

Etymology

From Middle Low German rar (“rare, valuable”), ultimately borrowed from Latin rārus (“loose, sparse, rare”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raːr/, [ʁɑːˀ]
• Rhymes: -aːˀr

Adjective

rar (neuter rart, plural and definite singular attributive rare)

1. pleasant
2. kind
3. nice
4. (obsolete) rare, scarce

Inflection

Inflection of rar

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	rar	rarere	rarest2
indefinite neuter singular	rart	rarere	rarest2
plural	rare	rarere	rarest2
definite attributive1	rare	rarere	rareste

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Synonyms

• dejlig
• kærlig
• sød

References

• “rar” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “rar” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

German

Etymology

From Latin rārus, chiefly through French rare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raːr/, [ʁaː(ɐ̯)], [ʁaːʁ]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːɐ̯, -aː
• Homophone: Rah (many speakers)

Adjective

rar (strong nominative masculine singular rarer, comparative rarer, superlative am rarsten)

1. scarce; seldom found and therefore in demand

   Synonyms: begehrt, dünn gesät, gefragt, gesucht, knapp, spärlich

2. (rare, dated) rare, infrequent (in general)

   Synonyms: selten, unüblich

Declension

Positive forms of rar

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist rar	sie ist rar	es ist rar	sie sind rar
strong declension (without article)	nominative	rarer	rare	rares	rare
	genitive	raren	rarer	raren	rarer
	dative	rarem	rarer	rarem	raren
	accusative	raren	rare	rares	rare
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der rare	die rare	das rare	die raren
	genitive	des raren	der raren	des raren	der raren
	dative	dem raren	der raren	dem raren	den raren
	accusative	den raren	die rare	das rare	die raren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein rarer	eine rare	ein rares	(keine) raren
	genitive	eines raren	einer raren	eines raren	(keiner) raren
	dative	einem raren	einer raren	einem raren	(keinen) raren
	accusative	einen raren	eine rare	ein rares	(keine) raren

Comparative forms of rar

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist rarer	sie ist rarer	es ist rarer	sie sind rarer
strong declension (without article)	nominative	rarerer	rarere	rareres	rarere
	genitive	rareren	rarerer	rareren	rarerer
	dative	rarerem	rarerer	rarerem	rareren
	accusative	rareren	rarere	rareres	rarere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der rarere	die rarere	das rarere	die rareren
	genitive	des rareren	der rareren	des rareren	der rareren
	dative	dem rareren	der rareren	dem rareren	den rareren
	accusative	den rareren	die rarere	das rarere	die rareren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein rarerer	eine rarere	ein rareres	(keine) rareren
	genitive	eines rareren	einer rareren	eines rareren	(keiner) rareren
	dative	einem rareren	einer rareren	einem rareren	(keinen) rareren
	accusative	einen rareren	eine rarere	ein rareres	(keine) rareren

Superlative forms of rar

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am rarsten	sie ist am rarsten	es ist am rarsten	sie sind am rarsten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	rarster	rarste	rarstes	rarste
	genitive	rarsten	rarster	rarsten	rarster
	dative	rarstem	rarster	rarstem	rarsten
	accusative	rarsten	rarste	rarstes	rarste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der rarste	die rarste	das rarste	die rarsten
	genitive	des rarsten	der rarsten	des rarsten	der rarsten
	dative	dem rarsten	der rarsten	dem rarsten	den rarsten
	accusative	den rarsten	die rarste	das rarste	die rarsten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein rarster	eine rarste	ein rarstes	(keine) rarsten
	genitive	eines rarsten	einer rarsten	eines rarsten	(keiner) rarsten
	dative	einem rarsten	einer rarsten	einem rarsten	(keinen) rarsten
	accusative	einen rarsten	eine rarste	ein rarstes	(keine) rarsten

Derived terms

• Rarität

Further reading

• “rar” in Duden online
• “rar”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[1] (in German)

Luxembourgish

Adjective

rar (masculine raren, neuter raart, comparative méi rar, superlative am raarsten)

1. rare

Declension

Declension of rar

		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		hien ass rar	si ass rar	et ass rar	si si(nn) rar
nominative / accusative	attributive and/or after determiner	raren	rar	rart	rar
	independent without determiner			rares	rarer
dative	after any declined word	raren	rarer	raren	raren
	as first declined word	rarem		rarem

Synonyms

• seelen

net vill Rares sinn:

1. to be nothing special, to be good for nothing

Adverb

rar

1. rarely

Mokilese

Verb

rar

1. (stative) to be split

Derived terms

• karara

References

• Harrison, Sheldon P., Mokilese-English Dictionary, University of Hawaii Press 1977

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Ultimately borrowed from Latin rārus (“seldom; rare”).

Adjective

rar (neuter singular rart, definite singular and plural rare, comparative rarere, indefinite superlative rarest, definite superlative rareste)

1. strange

Synonyms

• merkelig

References

• “rar” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Ultimately borrowed from Latin rārus (“seldom; rare”). False friend of Swedish rar, Danish rar and English rare, although being etymologically related to all of them.

Adjective

rar (neuter singular rart, definite singular and plural rare, comparative rarare, indefinite superlative rarast, definite superlative raraste)

1. strange

Synonyms

• merkeleg
• snål

References

• “rar” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin rārus (“seldom”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrar/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ar
• Hyphenation: rar

Adjective

rar m or n (feminine singular rară, masculine plural rari, feminine/neuter plural rare)

1. sparse, thin
2. scarce, few
3. rare, unusual, uncommon

Declension

Declension of rar

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	rar		rară	rari	rare
	definite	rarul		rara	rarii	rarele
genitive- dative	indefinite	rar		rare	rari	rare
	definite	rarului		rarei	rarilor	rarelor

Adverb

rar

1. sparsely, thinly
2. seldom, rarely, infrequently
3. (of speaking) slowly

   Vă rog să vorbiți mai rar.

   Please speak more slowly.

Usage notes

For the temporal senses, the literal definition found in the Romanian dictionary DEX indicates a meaning like "at longer intervals of time than usual", which explains the usage related to speech.

Derived terms

• rareori

Related terms

• raritate

References

• “rar”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Swedish

Etymology

From Middle Low German rar, ultimately borrowed from Latin rarus. False friend of Norwegian rar, Danish rar and English rare, although being etymologically related to all of them.

Adjective

rar (comparative rarare, superlative rarast)

1. sweet (agreeable in a tender, charming way)

   en snäll och rar flicka

   a kind and sweet girl

   en rar gammal man

   a sweet old man

   A man might not always like being called rar / sweet to his face, but works, like in English.

2. (archaic) rare

   Synonyms: sällsynt, ovanlig

Usage notes

See the terms under "See also" for sweet in other senses when of a person or animal, in particular gullig, söt, and snäll.

Declension

Inflection of rar

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	rar	rarare	rarast
neuter singular	rart	rarare	rarast
plural	rara	rarare	rarast
masculine plural2	rare	rarare	rarast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	rare	rarare	raraste
all	rara	rarare	raraste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Derived terms

• snälla rara

See also

• gullig
• ljuv
• snäll
• söt
• schysst
• skön
• trevlig
• vänlig
• älskvärd

References

• “rar”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “rar”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “rar”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• arr

Tashelhit

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Berber *ərăʔrăʔ (“to return, to vomit”). Cognate with Tarifit arr (“to return”), Ghadames ărr (“to return, to vomit”) and Zenaga uruʔri (“to return, to vomit”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rar/

Verb

rar (intensive aorist ttrara, preterite rur, Tifinagh spelling ⵔⴰⵔ, Arabic spelling رار)

1. to return, to give back, to put back
2. to answer to reply
3. to take care of, to look after
4. (figuratively) to vomit

Derived terms

• iraran (“vomit”)
• rar aḍar (“to head towards”)
• rar d (“to win, to economize”)
• rar udm (“to head towards”)

References

• Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 3 m—š (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/3) (in French), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 1874b
• Marijn van Putten (2024), “Proto-Berber Heavy Verbs”, in The Handbook of Berber Linguistics, Springer Singapore, →DOI, →ISBN, page 15

Zazaki

Noun

rar (c)

1. different
2. way