Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb Not often; infrequently or rarely.
  • adjective Infrequent; rare.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Rarely; not often; infrequently.
  • Rare; infrequent.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb Rarely; not often; not frequently.
  • adjective Archaic. Rare; infrequent.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb infrequently, rarely.
  • adjective obsolete rare; infrequent

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb not often

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English seldum, alteration of seldan.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English seldan.

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Examples

  • His expression seldom changes, with his cool stare and clenched jaw, the product of military schooling, but he's no less demanding or intense than Carril once was.

    This Coach Has a Coach, Too Scott Cacciola 2011

  • And at the risk of seeming importunate, I daresay humble is a word seldom applied to you, my lord Rolande.

    Songs of Love & Death George R. R. Martin 2010

  • And at the risk of seeming importunate, I daresay humble is a word seldom applied to you, my lord Rolande.

    Songs of Love & Death George R. R. Martin 2010

  • And at the risk of seeming importunate, I daresay humble is a word seldom applied to you, my lord Rolande.

    Songs of Love & Death George R. R. Martin 2010

  • The elusive Monti characteristically clung to the shadows, his name seldom surfacing even in the annals of the French occult world.

    The Sion Revelation Lynn Picknett 2006

  • The elusive Monti characteristically clung to the shadows, his name seldom surfacing even in the annals of the French occult world.

    The Sion Revelation Lynn Picknett 2006

  • The elusive Monti characteristically clung to the shadows, his name seldom surfacing even in the annals of the French occult world.

    The Sion Revelation Lynn Picknett 2006

  • Her name seldom featured in the press unless prefixed by the word "troubled" and accompanied by an account of her battles with drink and drugs and her dependent-abusive relationship with her husband, a petty drug dealer and junkie called Blake Fielder-Civil.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • Her name seldom featured in the press unless prefixed by the word "troubled" and accompanied by an account of her battles with drink and drugs and her dependent-abusive relationship with her husband, a petty drug dealer and junkie called Blake Fielder-Civil.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • Her name seldom featured in the press unless prefixed by the word "troubled" and accompanied by an account of her battles with drink and drugs and her dependent-abusive relationship with her husband, a petty drug dealer and junkie called Blake Fielder-Civil.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

Comments

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  • Phonetically it's a bit of a freak, it seems to me. As if directly imported from Arabic. Good stuff.

    September 2, 2010