A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1990 (DOST Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1548-1688
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Rarity, -ie, n. [e.m.E. raritie (1590), -y, F. rarité (1314 in Larousse) L. rāritās.]
1. a. Fewness in numbers (of persons); shortage. b. Of gatherings: The fact of being sparsely attended.a. 1548–56 Sc. Hist. Rev. XXXIII 44.
The want and laik of cunning men, raritie and skarsines of thame 1558-66 Knox II 194.
In all this raritie of trew ministeris 1573 Bk. Univ. Kirk I 270.
The rarity of people now in time of harvest 1579 Acts III 179/2.
Thair is greit raritie … of men learnit in [etc.] 1581 Ib. 233/1.b. 1578 Bk. Univ. Kirk II 412.
The raritie of the Assemblie 1590-1 R. Bruce Serm. 386.
Rarity 1599 Elgin Rec. II 72.
The gryt raritie of the convention 1641 Kirkcaldy Presb. 192.
Thair was no exercise in respect of the raritie [pr. varitie] of the meitting be reason of the danger of the way be the frost a1651 Calderwood VII 562.
He complained upon the raritie of the auditorie
2. A thing of exceptional excellence or quality. a1688 Wallace Orkney (1883) 186.
The common people reckon the meat of the sea urchin … a great rarity, and use it oft instead of butter
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"Rarity n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/rarity>
