selten

Etymology
From, , from , from. Cognate with 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬,, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Adjective

 * 1) rare, infrequent, uncommon, scarce
 * 2) unusual, curious
 * 3) * 1924, Friedrich Bernhard Störzner, Das weiße Männchen auf dem Kirchberge, in: Reinhardtswalder Sagenbüchlein, Buchhandlung Otto Schmidt, page 11:
 * "de"

- Droben am Himmel funkelten die Sterne in seltener Pracht.

Usage notes

 * The contracted comparative seltner is per se rare, but is occasionally used in attributive position: ein noch seltneres Phänomen − "an ever rarer phenomenon". This is done to avoid the three consecutive reduced syllables in selteneres etc.

Adverb

 * 1) seldom; rarely
 * 2)  unusually; extremely
 * 1)  unusually; extremely

Usage notes

 * The two senses are distinguishable by context and intonation.

Synonyms

 * See Thesaurus:sehr

Adjective
(variant of seelen)
 * 1) rare

Adverb

 * 1) rarely