Rarely means almost never, only once in a long while. Rarely seen, rarely if ever, we rarely go.
It goes before the main verb: he rarely writes. Rarely if ever is a fixed phrase meaning almost never at all. In formal writing, rarely can begin a sentence with the verb inverted — rarely has a decision been so unpopular — which is a deliberate literary effect. Note that rarely is the everyday word and seldom the formal one; and that rare and rarely are the same word, with rare also meaning underdone.
1adverbrarelyAlmost never; only once in a long while.
“He rarely writes and always at about four in the morning.”
synonyms: seldom, hardly ever
rarely is a frequency.
Also accepted in games: seldom
Proto-Indo-European
*h₁reh₁- — friable, thin
Latin
rārus — loose, spaced apart, thin, infrequent
Old French
rare
Middle English
rare
English
rare
English, today
rarely
Built from
From rare + -ly. rare comes from Middle English rare, from Old French rare, rere (“rare, uncommon”), from Latin rārus (“loose, spaced apart, thin, infrequent”), from Proto-Indo-European h₁reh₁- (“friable, thin”). Displaced native geason (“rare, scarce”) (from gesen, from gǣsne); and largely displaced seld (from selden) and seldscene (from seldsēne) hence modern seld
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA