rara avis
[ rair-uh ey-vis; Latin rah-rah ah-wis ]
/ ˈrɛər ə ˈeɪ vɪs; Latin ˈrɑ rɑ ˈɑ wɪs /
noun, plural ra·rae a·ves [rair-ee ey-veez; Latin rah-rahy ah-wes] /ˈrɛər i ˈeɪ viz; Latin ˈrɑ raɪ ˈɑ wɛs/.
a rare person or thing; rarity.
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
raptures, rapturous, rapturously, raptus, rar, rara avis, rare, rare bird, a, rare book, rare earth, rare earths
Origin of rara avis
First recorded in 1600–10, rara avis is from the Latin word rāra avis rare bird
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for rara avis
rara avis
/ (ˈrɛərə ˈeɪvɪs) /
noun plural rarae aves (ˈrɛəriː ˈeɪviːz)
an unusual, uncommon, or exceptional person or thing
Word Origin for rara avis
Latin: rare bird
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for rara avis
rara avis
c.1600, "peculiar person," from Latin rara avis, literally "strange bird," from rara, fem. of rarus "rare" (see rare (adj.1)) + avis "bird" (see aviary). Latin plural is raræ aves. Horace's peacock (a Roman delicacy), Juvenal's black swan ("Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper