🇩🇪German Source WordCode: DE

selten

Pronunciation / Transliteration: ˈzɛltən

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Rare/rɛər/
adjectiveCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #800 frequency
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🇩🇪 Example Sentence in German:

"Es ist selten, so ein Talent zu sehen."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As adjective
  1. 1

    Uncommon; not occurring very often.

    "Finding a four-leaf clover is a rare occurrence."
  2. 2

    Of a quality or degree that is unusual or exceptional.

    "She has a rare talent for music that captivates everyone."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The word 'rare' originates from the Latin 'rarus', meaning 'sparse' or 'thin'. It evolved through Old French 'raire' before entering Middle English, where it took on the meaning of something uncommon or infrequent.

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