Rare in Different Languages
Discover 'Rare' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'rare' holds a unique significance in our vocabulary, denoting something that is uncommon, scarce, or extraordinary. Its cultural importance is evident in various fields, from art and literature to science and nature, where 'rare' objects and phenomena are often valued and studied with great interest.
Delving into the world of languages, one might wonder how the term 'rare' is translated in different tongues, thereby gaining insights into the cultural nuances associated with the word. For instance, in Spanish, 'rare' can be translated as 'raro', while in French, it becomes 'rare', and in German, it is 'selten'. These translations not only help us understand the word better but also open up a gateway to explore the fascinating realm of linguistic and cultural diversity.
Join us as we embark on a journey to discover the translations of 'rare' in various languages, from the familiar to the exotic, and uncover the intriguing stories and connotations that lie behind them.
Rare
Rare in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | skaars | ||
| The Afrikaans word "skaars" also means "scarcely" and "hardly" in English. | |||
| Amharic | አልፎ አልፎ | ||
| አብ አብ is derived from both አትባጥ ("one") and an iteration of ኢ ("and") that has been infixed with -ff- (assimilation of -ff- to /f/), thus "one and one and...". | |||
| Hausa | ba safai ba | ||
| The word "ba safai ba" is related to the word "ba" (to do) and "safai" (cleanliness), suggesting something that is rarely done or difficult to clean. | |||
| Igbo | obere | ||
| Igbo 'obere' means 'rare', but can also refer to 'different' or 'unfamiliar'. | |||
| Malagasy | tsy fahita firy | ||
| "Tsy fahita firy" is related to the words "faha" (to find) and "vary" (iron), but also connotes something extraordinary or unusual. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | osowa | ||
| In Nyanja (Chichewa), "osowa" can also mean "few," "not many," or "scattered." | |||
| Shona | kushoma | ||
| The etymology of "kushoma" is not definitively known, but it is thought to be a blend of "kupfuma" (to come out) and "kushoma" (to be scarce). | |||
| Somali | dhif ah | ||
| The word "dhif ah" is also used to mean "costly" or "valuable." | |||
| Sesotho | seoelo | ||
| The word "seoelo" is also used figuratively to describe something of exceptional quality or value. | |||
| Swahili | nadra | ||
| The word "nadra" has an alternate meaning of "beautiful, precious, or esteemed." | |||
| Xhosa | kunqabile | ||
| The Xhosa word "kunqabile" also means "difficult to obtain" or "precious". | |||
| Yoruba | toje | ||
| The Yoruba word "toje" can also be used colloquially in some communities to describe someone that is slow in comprehension | |||
| Zulu | akuvamile | ||
| "Akuvamile" can also refer to something that is unique, or that has not been seen or experienced before. | |||
| Bambara | manteli ka kɛ | ||
| Ewe | mebᴐ o | ||
| Kinyarwanda | gake | ||
| Lingala | emonanaka mingi te | ||
| Luganda | tekilabikalabika | ||
| Sepedi | sewelo | ||
| Twi (Akan) | nna | ||
Rare in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | نادر | ||
| "نادر" also means "scarce" and "deficient" in Arabic. | |||
| Hebrew | נָדִיר | ||
| In Semitic languages, the root of "נָדִיר" means "to separate" and is related to "נֵדֶר" (vow), "נָדִיב" (generous), and "נֵדָה" (menstrual impurity). | |||
| Pashto | نادر | ||
| The word "نادر" in Pashto may also refer to a kind of sweet made from molasses, flour, and oil. | |||
| Arabic | نادر | ||
| "نادر" also means "scarce" and "deficient" in Arabic. | |||
Rare in Western European Languages
| Albanian | i rrallë | ||
| The word "i rrallë" can also refer to a situation or event that happens infrequently or is uncommon. | |||
| Basque | arraroa | ||
| The Basque word "arraroa" also means "unexpectedly". | |||
| Catalan | rar | ||
| The Catalan word "rar" can also mean "strange" or "odd" in English, further highlighting its rarity. | |||
| Croatian | rijetko | ||
| The word "rijetko" also means "seldom" or "infrequently". | |||
| Danish | sjælden | ||
| Sjælden can also mean 'seldom' or 'uncommon' in Danish. | |||
| Dutch | bijzonder | ||
| "Bijzonder" also means "special" or "important" in Dutch. | |||
| English | rare | ||
| The word "rare" (when used to describe a meat) derives from the medieval Latin word "rarus," meaning "cooked," whereas the other meaning (meaning "scarce") derives from the word's use in the 16th century to describe something that was "thin" or "infrequent." | |||
| French | rare | ||
| The French word "rare" comes from the Latin word "rarus," which means "thin" or "sparse." | |||
| Frisian | seldsum | ||
| The Frisian word 'seldsum' comes from Old Frisian and originally meant 'seldom occurring'. | |||
| Galician | raro | ||
| In Galician, "raro" can also mean "strange" or "unusual." | |||
| German | selten | ||
| The word "Selten" is derived from the Middle High German word "selten", which means "infrequently" or "seldom". | |||
| Icelandic | sjaldgæft | ||
| The word 'sjaldgæft' is derived from the Old Norse word 'skjaldgæfr', which means 'rare' or 'precious'. | |||
| Irish | annamh | ||
| The word “annamh” is also used to talk about something that is wonderful or hard to come by. | |||
| Italian | raro | ||
| The word "raro" in Italian also means "uncooked" or "undercooked". | |||
| Luxembourgish | selten | ||
| Despite being synonymous with "rare", "selten" can also describe something as "strange" in Luxembourgish, which may derive from German "seltsam" with the same meaning. | |||
| Maltese | rari | ||
| Maltese "rari" derives from Arabic "nâdr," also meaning "rare" or "infrequent." | |||
| Norwegian | sjelden | ||
| The word "sjelden" is derived from the Old Norse word "sjaldan", meaning "seldom, infrequently." | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | raro | ||
| The Portuguese word 'raro' can also mean 'uncommon' or 'unusual', and it comes from the Latin word 'rarus', meaning 'separated' or 'scattered'. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | tearc | ||
| The Gaelic word "tearc" also means "few" or "a small number". | |||
| Spanish | raro | ||
| Raro also means "unusual" or "odd" in Spanish. | |||
| Swedish | sällsynt | ||
| In older expressions, sällsynt was used in the meaning of 'different' or 'strange' | |||
| Welsh | prin | ||
| The word "prin" also means "important" in Welsh, which is also true for the similar-sounding word "prime" in English. | |||
Rare in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | рэдка | ||
| "Рэдка" (rare) in Belarusian also denotes "infrequently", "scarcely" and "seldom." | |||
| Bosnian | rijetko | ||
| The word 'rijetko' has Proto-West Slavic origin and is cognate with Czech and Slovak 'řádko' ('infrequently'). | |||
| Bulgarian | рядко | ||
| The word "рядко" can also refer to something that occurs infrequently or irregularly. | |||
| Czech | vzácný | ||
| The word "vzácný" comes from the Proto-Slavic root *cьstъ, which originally meant "guest" or "foreigner, which later developed into the meaning of "precious" or "rare". | |||
| Estonian | haruldane | ||
| In Old Estonian, "haruldane" meant "valuable" or "expensive". | |||
| Finnish | harvinainen | ||
| The word "harvinainen" is likely derived from the Proto-Finnic word "*haru," meaning "wide" or "distant." | |||
| Hungarian | ritka | ||
| Ritka can also mean loose, thin, infrequent, infrequent, and unusual. | |||
| Latvian | reti | ||
| The Latvian word "reti" also has the alternate meaning of "seldom". | |||
| Lithuanian | retas | ||
| Although "retas" means "rare" in Lithuanian, it could also mean "thin," "scarce," or "seldom." | |||
| Macedonian | ретки | ||
| The word "ретки" in Macedonian can also mean "infrequent" or "uncommon". | |||
| Polish | rzadko spotykany | ||
| The Polish word "rzadko spotykany" ("rare") is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *rědъ ("row"), which also gave rise to the noun "rzad" ("row") and the adjective "rzędny" ("orderly"). | |||
| Romanian | rar | ||
| The Romanian word "rar" can also mean "seldom" or "infrequently", and is cognate with the English word "rare". | |||
| Russian | редкий | ||
| In Russian, "редкий" also means "sparse" or "infrequent" in the sense of not being crowded or tightly packed together. | |||
| Serbian | ретко | ||
| The word 'ретко' also means 'occasionally' in Serbian. | |||
| Slovak | zriedkavé | ||
| The word 'zriedkavé' comes from the Old Slavic word 'zrěti' meaning 'to see' and the suffix '-dkavý' which means 'tending to'. | |||
| Slovenian | redko | ||
| Slovenian "redko" is connected to an old Slavic root *rъd- "to arrange" (cf. "order") through Polish "rzadko" "not often." | |||
| Ukrainian | рідко | ||
| The word "рідко" is cognate with the Slavic "ridkyй", meaning "sparse", and can also mean "seldom" or "at long intervals". | |||
Rare in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | বিরল | ||
| বিরল can also mean 'exceptional' or 'unusual'. | |||
| Gujarati | દુર્લભ | ||
| "दुर्लभ" is derived from Sanskrit "दुर्" (difficult) and "लभ्" (to obtain), indicating something that is not easily acquired. | |||
| Hindi | दुर्लभ | ||
| The word "दुर्लभ" also means "infrequent", "difficult to obtain", or "scarce" in some contexts. | |||
| Kannada | ಅಪರೂಪ | ||
| "ಅಪರೂಪ" (rare) is cognate with the Tamil word "அபரிதம்", which means "strange, unfamiliar". In Telugu, the word "అపరూపం" also has a similar meaning, "unfamiliar". | |||
| Malayalam | അപൂർവ്വം | ||
| Marathi | दुर्मिळ | ||
| "दुर्मिळ" Marathi could have gotten its name from the fact that it is "दूर्" or hard to come by. | |||
| Nepali | विरलै | ||
| The Nepali word "विरलै" is derived from Sanskrit, where it originally meant "rarely occurring" or "scarce". | |||
| Punjabi | ਦੁਰਲੱਭ | ||
| The word "ਦੁਰਲੱਭ" is derived from the Sanskrit words "dur" (meaning "difficult") and "labh" (meaning "to obtain"). | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | දුර්ලභයි | ||
| දුර්ලභයි comes from the Sanskrit word "durlabha," which also means "difficult to obtain" or "hard to find." | |||
| Tamil | அரிதானது | ||
| Telugu | అరుదు | ||
| The word "అరుదు" (arudu) can also refer to something scarce or uncommon. | |||
| Urdu | نایاب | ||
| The word "نایاب" can also refer to something that is unique or difficult to find. | |||
Rare in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 罕见 | ||
| In addition to its usual meaning of "rare," the Chinese character "罕见" can also mean "unusual" or "uncommon." | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 罕見 | ||
| "罕見" originally means "seldom seen" and can refer to something unusual or worthy of attention. | |||
| Japanese | レア | ||
| "レア” can also indicate something cooked on low heat | |||
| Korean | 드문 | ||
| 드문(rare) is also used to mean 'strange', 'unusual', or 'seldom' | |||
| Mongolian | ховор | ||
| The Mongolian word "ховор" (rare) shares the same etymology with the word "ховорч" (bird) due to the perception that birds were rare to see in the vast Mongolian steppe. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ရှားပါး | ||
Rare in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | langka | ||
| Langka's origin is from 'jarang', meaning 'sparse'. | |||
| Javanese | langka | ||
| The Javanese word "langka" is derived from the Sanskrit word "langkha", meaning "a step", and was originally used to describe something that was difficult to obtain and hence of high value. | |||
| Khmer | កម្រណាស់ | ||
| Lao | ຫາຍາກ | ||
| 'หายาก' can also mean "expensive" in some contexts. | |||
| Malay | jarang berlaku | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning of "rare," "jarang berlaku" can also mean "infrequent" or "uncommon." | |||
| Thai | หายาก | ||
| The word "หายาก" can also mean "hard to find" or "scarce". | |||
| Vietnamese | quý hiếm | ||
| "quý" means "valuable" and "hiếm" means "scarce" in Vietnamese, so "quý hiếm" translates to precious or "rare". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | bihira | ||
Rare in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | nadir | ||
| The Azerbaijani word "nadir" (نادر) is derived from the Arabic word "nādir" (نادر), which means "precious" or "uncommon". | |||
| Kazakh | сирек | ||
| In Kazakh, 'сирек' means not only 'rare', but also 'not often repeated', 'uncommon', or 'seldom happening'. | |||
| Kyrgyz | сейрек | ||
| "Сейрек" also means "infrequent" and "thin" in Kyrgyz. | |||
| Tajik | нодир | ||
| The Tajik word "нодир" derives from the Persian word "nadir", which means "uncommon" or "unusual". | |||
| Turkmen | seýrek | ||
| Uzbek | kamdan-kam | ||
| The Uzbek word "kamdan-kam" also has meanings such as "uncommonly" and "infrequently" | |||
| Uyghur | ناھايىتى ئاز ئۇچرايدۇ | ||
Rare in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kākaʻikahi | ||
| "Kāka'ikahi" also means 'unique', 'distinct', 'unprecedented', or 'unparalleled' in Hawaiian. | |||
| Maori | onge | ||
| The word "onge" can also be used to refer to something that is difficult to obtain or uncommon. | |||
| Samoan | seasea | ||
| The Samoan word for seasea is sometimes shortened to sea and means "rare" or "scarce." | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | bihira | ||
| "Bihira" is also used to describe a person who is shy or has a quiet personality. | |||
Rare in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | mayt'aña | ||
| Guarani | jepivegua'ỹ | ||
Rare in International Languages
| Esperanto | malofta | ||
| The Esperanto word “malofta” likely derives from the French word “mal” (“bad”) and the Latin word “optus” (“chosen”) and originally meant “lesser favored” before narrowing its meaning to “rare”. | |||
| Latin | rara | ||
| The Latin word "rara" also means "thin" or "scattered". | |||
Rare in Others Languages
| Greek | σπάνιος | ||
| The word "σπάνιος" also signifies "precious" and "valuable" in the context of ancient Greek literature. | |||
| Hmong | tsawg tsawg | ||
| The word "tsawg tsawg" can also mean "expensive" or "valuable" in Hmong. | |||
| Kurdish | kêm | ||
| The word "kêm" may also refer to an unfulfilled wish or a lack of something in a specific place or context. | |||
| Turkish | nadir | ||
| Nadir is also used figuratively in Turkish as "the lowest point" or "worst situation". | |||
| Xhosa | kunqabile | ||
| The Xhosa word "kunqabile" also means "difficult to obtain" or "precious". | |||
| Yiddish | זעלטן | ||
| The etymology of the Yiddish word "זעלטן" ("rare") is traced to the Proto-Slavic root "*solь" (meaning "salt"), reflecting an early connection between salt's scarcity and value. | |||
| Zulu | akuvamile | ||
| "Akuvamile" can also refer to something that is unique, or that has not been seen or experienced before. | |||
| Assamese | বিৰল | ||
| Aymara | mayt'aña | ||
| Bhojpuri | दुलम | ||
| Dhivehi | ވަރަށް މަދުން | ||
| Dogri | ओपरा | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | bihira | ||
| Guarani | jepivegua'ỹ | ||
| Ilocano | manmano | ||
| Krio | at fɔ si | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | دەگمەن | ||
| Maithili | दुर्लभ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯑꯇꯥꯡꯕ | ||
| Mizo | vang | ||
| Oromo | darbee darbee kan mul'atu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ବିରଳ | ||
| Quechua | mana riqsisqa | ||
| Sanskrit | दुर्लभः | ||
| Tatar | сирәк | ||
| Tigrinya | ብበዝሒ ዘይርከብ | ||
| Tsonga | talangi | ||