rārus — Lewis & Short
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.