rarelyadv.
/ˈrɛːli/, U.S. /ˈrɛrli/ In a rare manner.
1. † b. In a wide-set manner; with a loose or open structure. Obsolete.
a. Thinly, scantily; sparsely.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > [adverb] > here and there at wide intervals > thinly occupied or populated
rarely1523
sparsely1857
1523 T. Cromwell Speech to Parl. in R. B. Merriman Life & Lett. T. Cromwell (1902) I. 40 How should we be Able to possede the large Cuntreye of Fraunce which haue our owne Realme so meruelous rarely storyd of inhabytauntes and hable men.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 26 The country aboue, is champion, and not barren, but rarely inhabited.
1641 in W. Stevenson Presbyterie Bk. Kirkcaldie (1900) 193 The brethren in respect of the foullnes of the wether and the shortnes of the meitting to that effect excuses themsefs (being rairlie met).
1719 E. Young Busiris v. 57 Behold thy Troops are thin, Thy Men are rarely sprinkled o'er the Field.
1797 J. Bailey & G. Culley Gen. View Agric. Northumberland (new ed.) viii. 100 They [sc. rich grazing pastures] are so rarely scattered, that few farms are so fortunate as to enjoy so desirable appendage.
1840 T. Ingoldsby Ingoldsby Legends 127 One of the few cottages, rarely sprinkled in that wild country.
1894 Geogr. Jrnl. 4 307 The district is rarely inhabited.
1982 Harvard Stud. Classical Philol. 86 260 These notes are very full for the first Eclogue and are scattered rarely in a few other Eclogues.
2002 S. E. Beaubien et al. in J. Klerkx & B. Imanackunov Lake Issyk-Kul ii. 251 Small fragments of such rocks are found randomly but rarely throughout the phanerocrystalline carbonate stocks.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > [adverb] > here and there at wide intervals > in a widely spaced manner
rarelya1547
a1547 Earl of Surrey tr. Virgil Fourth Bk. Aeneas (1554) iv. sig. Biiv The hayes so rarely knytte [L. retia rara].
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 28 Some [trees] thicke and grosly set, as the Cyprusse: some as rarely and thinly disposed as the Beach.
1622 R. Hawkins Observ. Voiage South Sea lix. 136 Shee..being rarely built, and vtterly without fights or defence;..we cleered her deckes in a moment.
1673 J. Ogilby tr. J. Nieuhof Embassy E.-India Company (ed. 2) I. 74 Over these Channels are several Stone Bridges, very rarely built.
1737 P. St. John Fourteen Serm. viii. 262 A Christian on this bottom, is rarely built against a storm.
2. Seldom, infrequently; in few instances.Esp. formerly with superlative rareliest, and with comparative rarelier.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [adverb]
seldom-whenc888
seldomc897
seld-whenc897
seldoma1000
seldc1000
seldom-timec1386
seld-timec1386
seld-whilea1387
seld-where1390
thinc1405
rare?1440
sendle?a1500
daintilya1513
thinlyc1545
rarely1546
once in a moon1547
out-takingly1549
seldomly1549
for once and away1583
sparingly1590
scarce1596
unfrequently1646
unoften1654
infrequently1673
once in a while1765
sporadically1765
sparselya1871
seldom-while1876
(for) once in a way1891
1546 S. Gardiner Detection Deuils Sophistrie f. xxv Fewe men (and those but rarely) haue seen a mouse deuoure ye host.
a1618 W. Raleigh Remains (1664) 121 Benefits are sometimes acknowledged, rarely requited.
1631 R. Bolton Instr. Right Comf. Affl. Consciences Ep. Ded. sig. ¶7v They are rarelier, and hardlier wrought upon by the Word.
1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso i. xxxix. 78 Those pretious stones are most esteemed of, which are rareliest found.
1712 E. Budgell Spectator No. 277. ¶16 She was not Talkative, a Quality very rarely to be met with in the rest of her Country-women.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters ii. 3 They rarely, if ever..are perfectly frozen.
1806 R. Cumberland Mem. (1807) II. 281 I am very rarely called off by avocations of an undomestic kind.
1861 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing (new ed.) i. 8 The windows are rarely or never opened.
1933 H. J. Carter Gulliver in Bush 168 The animal could only have been the Tasmanian wolf—rarely seen outside a zoo.
1977 Time Out 28 Jan. 48/2 No choruses but splendid arias..in this rarely-performed work dating from 1725.
1983 N.Y. Times Mag. 6 Mar. 12/2 Rarely does one side in a controversy grab the moral high ground by the coinage of a phrase.
2005 J. Weiner Goodnight Nobody xxvi. 219 The magazine's coverage rarely strayed beyond celebrities and what they were snorting.
3. Unusually or remarkably well; finely, splendidly, excellently.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [adverb] > and nobly or splendidly
micklelyeOE
highlyeOE
freelyOE
dearworthlyc1230
gloriously1393
dearworthilya1400
farrandlyc1400
stately?a1439
finely?1552
gallantly1552
goldenly1580
rarely1581
sightly1592
superbly1769
splendidly1774
splendiferously1841
swell1856
in there1944
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xlv. 301 Our learned princesse, whom God hath so rarely endewed and endowed.
1598 E. Ford Parismus xi. sig. Kv The King of Persia himselfe laie vpon a hill hard by the Cittie, in a Tent most richly and rarely contriued.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream i. ii. 25 I could play Ercles rarely . View more context for this quotation
1668 J. Dryden Sr Martin Mar-all v. 54 I'le instruct him most rarely, he shall never be found out.
a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 134 A stately Architrave, and Cornish rarely carv'd.
1786 R. Burns Poems 84 Down Pleasure's stream, wi' swelling sails I'm tauld ye're driving rarely.
1828 P. Buchan Anc. Ballads & Songs N. Scotl. I. 87 The swords an the targe, That hang about Charlie; They had sic a glitter, And set him sae rarelie.
1860 ‘G. Eliot’ Mill on Floss II. iii. iii. 34 You can write rarely now, after all your schooling, I should think.
1917 Trenton (New Jersey) Evening Times 12 June 12/3 It is a rarely constructed and beautiful plant.
1932 T. E. Lawrence tr. Homer Odyssey vi Your marriage season..is the very time when you must clothe yourself rarely.
1989 J. Picton & J. Mack Afr. Textiles v. 105 These cloths are both rarely woven and expensive.
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 241/2 Rarely, very well indeed. ‘Ow're ya doin' then, maãte?’ ‘Rarely, thanks, maãte!’
4. To an unusual degree; exceptionally, very.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [adverb] > exceptionally
outnumenlyc1175
outnumenc1225
rarely1581
notedlya1616
remarkably1615
extraordinary1632
remarkable1782
awesomea1835
undeemously1846
exceptionally1848
noteworthily1864
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > remarkably or extraordinarily
outnumenlyc1175
outnumenc1225
disguisilyc1325
notablya1398
speciallya1398
oddc1400
oddlyc1400
singularlyc1430
strangelya1450
notable1481
outragec1540
out-takingly1549
supernaturally1578
rarely1581
extraordinarily1593
signally1598
unvulgarly1602
unexpectedly1605
essentially?1606
remarkably1615
unusually1615
particularly1616
eminently1632
extraordinary1632
markablya1634
considerably1646
surprisingly1661
out-of-the-way1718
unco1724
conspicuouslya1732
heroically1735
uncommonly1751
strikingly1752
uncommon1784
pronouncedly1785
markedly1811
awesomea1835
noticeably1845
rousing1847
exceptionally1848
outstandingly1851
prominently1885
accentedly1904
hella1987
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxviii. 168 Nay do we not see in our country, some of that sex so excellently well trained, and so rarely qualified.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 154 Villain, Dog. O rarely base. View more context for this quotation
1662 R. Boyle Def. Doctr. Spring & Weight of Air ii. v. 58 It wil agree rarely-well with the Hypothesis.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) i. vii. 16 The rarely learned Marcus Aurelius Severinus.
1681 R. Knox Hist. Relation Ceylon 15 It is rarely sweet and pleasing to the pallate.
1715 C. Bullock Woman's Revenge iii. 56 I hope no Body has taken, our House, it stood rarely well..for Business.
1774 R. Warner tr. Plautus Courtezans iv. ix, in B. Thornton et al. tr. Plautus Comedies V. 82 Now Troy's in danger—And rarely well the wooden horse performs.
1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words at Trolley Sich roads! We got rarely jounced i' the trolly.
1866 Macmillan's Mag. Apr. 521 Investigated by..That rarely-gifted Scholar.
1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust II. (1873) iv. iii. 371 Much it needs, to be supported fairly, And careful maintenance will also cost us rarely.
1931 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 106/3 A commanding piece is the rarely fine Sheraton bookcase of mahogany.
1977 Daily Tel. 13 May 18 George Daniels..was rarely honoured in Stockholm yesterday. The Stockholm Watch Guild awarded him its Victor Kullberg Medal, bestowed only three times before.
Phrases
P1. it is (very) rarely that: = it is (very) rare that at rare adj.1 4b.
ΚΠ
1662 R. L'Estrange Memento x. i. 166 It is very rarely that such an Indulgence is better Employ'd.
1700 J. Milner Acct. Mr. Lock's Relig. xxx. 133 It is very rarely that true Vertue hath met with such Entertainment in the World.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Louse He observes, that it is rarely that flies are found infested with them.
1825 G. N. Collingwood in S. Parr Wks. (1828) I. 505 It was rarely indeed that any such request was denied.
1864 S. P. Fox Kingsbridge xiii. 163 It is very rarely that a single way is lost.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 12 Oct. 12/2 It is rarely that a penalty-bully is given in first-class hockey.
1961 N. Roy Black Albino 73 It was rarely that they had the chance to see the strange child with eyes which were unlike any other, and they could not help gaping.
2007 Irish Independent (Nexis) 7 Feb. It's rarely that rugby provides big pay-outs for gamblers.
P2.
a. rarely ever: very rarely, most infrequently (cf. seldom adv. b).
ΚΠ
1679 R. Baxter Nonconformists Plea for Peace viii. 154 Children..who rarely ever come so young to own with any tolerable understanding and seriousness, their Baptismal Covenant.
1684 A. Behn Voy. to Isle of Love 105 in Poems Several Occasions It rarely ever takes its flight, But in the secret shades of night.
1709 D. Manley Secret Mem. (ed. 2) II. 167 They..rarely ever examin into the true Motive.
1760 C. Johnstone Chrysal II. xiii. 250 The situation of those nations is such, that the inhabitants themselves rarely ever travel.
1857 W. Bagehot Lit. Stud. (1879) II. 275 The words of a great poet, in our complex modern time, are rarely ever free from its traces.
1891 H. H. Griffin Athletics 85 The standing long and high jumps are rarely ever heard of.
1914 E. P. Stewart Lett. Woman Homesteader iii. 21 Sometimes it is months before they see another soul, and rarely ever a woman.
1974 Florence (S. Carolina) Morning News 5 Jan. 12/1 She had retreated into a wall of silence which Scott was rarely ever able to penetrate.
2002 P. Blom To have & to Hold (2003) 201 The lives of bibliomaniacs are rarely ever quaint and can be, in extremis, utterly alarming.
b. rarely or ever: seldom or never (cf. seldom or ever at seldom adv. c).
ΚΠ
1692 Arts of Empire xxvi. 223 Forced Promises which concern a whole State, are not binding, and rarely or ever kept.
1766 tr. J.-H.-S. Formey Eccl. Hist. I. xiii. 226 They were..thrown into prisons, from whence they rarely or ever came out, but to the flames.
1768 Woman of Honor I. 139 But those schemes..rarely or ever answer the end.
1811 S. Smith Wks. (1850) 200/1 The contest would rarely or ever take place, where the friends of the Establishment were not numerous enough.
1887 Atlantic Monthly Oct. 511/2 It is a well-known fact that Millet rarely or ever used models.
1911 Times 14 Apr. 11/6 The disease occurs at all times of the year, but is generally observable during wet or damp weather, rarely or ever during intense cold or in hot dry weather.
1968 Rev. Politics 30 516 Compilations in the realm of so-called structural-functional sociology and political ‘science’ are rarely or ever a thankful task.
2003 A. Phillips Lawyers' Lang. iv. 121 Liberty of political expression is so fundamental that it is now rarely or ever put to the test.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1523