rarely, adv.
(ˈrɛəlɪ)
[f. rare a.2 + -ly2.]
† 1. a. Thinly, scantily. Obs. rare.
| 1523 Cromwell Sp. in Merriman Life & Lett. (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. |
† b. In a wide-set or open manner. Obs.
| a 1547 Surrey æneid iv. (1557) E i, The hayes so rarely knit [L. retia rara]. 1622 Sir R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 196 Shee..being rarely built, and utterly without fights or defences..wee cleered her decks in a moment. |
2. Seldom, infrequently, in few instances.
Formerly compared rarelier, rareliest (quots. 1640, 1656).
| 1552 Huloet, Rarelye, raro. 1570 in Levins Manip. a 1618 Raleigh Rem. (1664) 121 Benefits are sometimes acknowledged, rarely requited. 1640 Bolton Comf. Affl. Consc. (ed. 3) Ep. Ded., They are rarelier, and hardlier wrought upon by the Word. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. xxxix. (1674) 51 Those precious Stones are most esteemed of, which are rareliest found. 1712 Budgell Spect. 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. 1861 F. Nightingale Nursing 7 The windows are rarely or never opened. 1880 Geikie Phys. Geog. ii. §11. 85 How rarely does the air seem to be perfectly motionless! |
b. With ever added.
| 1694 W. Wotton Anc. & Mod. Learn. (1697) 403 The most verbose Mathematicians have rarely ever said any thing for Saying sake. 1709 Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. II. 167 They..rarely ever examin into the true Motive. 1728 Ramsay Health 355 Who rarely ever cures, but often kills. 1857 [see ever adv. 7 c]. |
c. rarely or ever, by confusion of ‘rarely if ever’ and ‘rarely or never’. Cf. ever adv. 7 b.
| 1768 Woman of Honor I. 139 But those schemes..rarely or ever answer the end. 1811 Syd. Smith Wks. (1850) 200/1 The contest would rarely or ever take place, where the friends of the Establishment were not numerous enough. |
d. it is rarely that = It is rare or seldom that. (See rare a. 5 b.)
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Louse, He observes, that it is rarely that flies are found infested with them. 1825 G. N. Collingwood in Parr's Wks. (1828) I. 505 It was rarely indeed that any such request was denied. |
3. Unusually or remarkably well; finely, splendidly, beautifully. (Freq. in 17th c.)
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. ii. 31, I could play Ercles rarely. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. v. 1, I could belch rarely, for I am all winde. 1667 Dryden Sir Martin Mar-all v. i, I'll instruct him most rarely, he shall never be found out. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 136 A stately Architrave, and Cornish rarely carv'd. 1786 Burns Dream x, Down Pleasure's stream, wi' swelling sails I'm tauld ye're driving rarely. 1860 Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. iii. iii, You can write rarely now, after all your schooling, I should think. |
4. In an unusual degree; exceptionally.
| 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. v. ii. 158 Villain, Dog. O rarely base. 1661 Boyle Spring of Air ii. v. (1682) 56 It will agree rarely-well with the Hypothesis. 1681 R. Knox Hist. Ceylon 15 It is rarely sweet and pleasing to the pallat. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxii. (1856) 174, I was one of the oarsmen, and sweated rarely. 1882 J. Fothergill Kith & K. xxx, I believed him to be rarely good and wise. |
b. With (ppl.) adjs. used attributively.
| 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. vii. 16 The rarely learned Marcus Aurelius Severinus. 1860 G. H. K. in Vac. Tour 117 Bits of rarely-scented shrub here and there. 1866 Macm. Mag. Apr. 521 Investigated by..That rarely-gifted Scholar. |