Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A rare or unique person or thing.
from The Century Dictionary.
- A rare bird; hence, a person or an object of a rare kind or character; a prodigy.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
rare orunique person or thing.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a rare or unique person
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Latin rāra avis : rāra, feminine of rārus, rare + avis, bird.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Latin rāra avis ("rare bird"), plural rarae aves
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Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
sionnach commented on the word rara avis
No car rental available.
July 14, 2008
bilby commented on the word rara avis
I heard that Rara Avis is 42 this year.
April 5, 2009
reesetee commented on the word rara avis
It's spreading!
April 5, 2009
madmouth commented on the word rara avis
best example is in Hop Frog:
"I never knew anyone so keenly alive to a joke as the king was. He seemed to live only for joking. To tell a good story of the joke kind, and to tell it well, was the surest road to his favor. Thus it happened that his seven ministers were all noted for their accomplishments as jokers. They all took after the king, too, in being large, corpulent, oily men, as well as inimitable jokers. Whether people grow fat by joking, or whether there is something in fat itself which predisposes to a joke, I have never been quite able to determine; but certain it is that a lean joker is a rara avis in terris."
May 7, 2009
emil commented on the word rara avis
"rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cygno" Juvenal's Satires
June 9, 2012