1. [adj]  not widely distributed; "rare herbs"; "rare patches of gree in the desert"
2. [adj]  not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness; "a rare word"; "rare books"
3. [adj]  (of meat) cooked a short time; still red inside; "rare roast beef"
4. [adj]  recurring only at long intervals; "a rare appearance"; "total eclipses are rare events"
5. [adj]  marked by an uncommon quality; especially superlative or extreme of its kind; "what is so rare as a day in June"-J.R.Lowell; "a rare skill"; "an uncommon sense of humor"; "she was kind to an uncommon degree"
6. [adj]  having low density; "rare gasses"; "lightheaded from the rarefied mountain air"

1. \Rare\ (r[^a]r), a. [Cf. {Rather}, {Rath}.]
   Early. [Obs.]
         Rude mechanicals that rare and late Work in the market
         place.                                   --Chapman.
   

2. \Rare\, a. [Compar. {Rarer}; superl. {Rarest}.] [Cf. AS.
   hr[=e]r, or E. rare early.]
   Nearly raw; partially cooked; not thoroughly cooked;
   underdone; as, rare beef or mutton.
         New-laid eggs, which Baucis' busy care Turned by a
         gentle fire, and roasted rare.           --Dryden.
   Note: This word is in common use in the United States, but in
         England its synonym underdone is preferred.
   

3. \Rare\, a. [Compar. {Rarer}; superl. {Rarest}.] [F., fr. L.
   rarus thin, rare.]
   1. Not frequent; seldom met with or occurring; unusual; as, a
      rare event.
   2. Of an uncommon nature; unusually excellent; valuable to a
      degree seldom found.
            Rare work, all filled with terror and delight.
                                                  --Cowley.
            Above the rest I judge one beauty rare. --Dryden.
   3. Thinly scattered; dispersed.
            Those rare and solitary, three in flocks. --Milton.
   4. Characterized by wide separation of parts; of loose
      texture; not thick or dense; thin; as, a rare atmosphere
      at high elevations.
            Water is nineteen times lighter, and by consequence
            nineteen times rarer, than gold.      --Sir I.
                                                  Newton.
   Syn: Scarce; infrequent; unusual; uncommon; singular;
        extraordinary; incomparable.
   Usage: {Rare}, {Scarce}. We call a thing rare when but few
          examples, specimens, or instances of it are ever to be
          met with; as, a rare plant. We speak of a thing as
          scarce, which, though usually abundant, is for the
          time being to be had only in diminished quantities;
          as, a bad harvest makes corn scarce.
                A perfect union of wit and judgment is one of
                the rarest things in the world.   --Burke.
                When any particular piece of money grew very
                scarce, it was often recoined by a succeeding
                emperor.                          --Addison.
   

Réseaux Associés pour la Recherche Européenne