sällsynt

Swedish

Etymology

From the neuter form of Old Swedish sälsyn, siäldsyn, siälsyn, siälffsyn. Compound of two parts. The first part is the same root as in sällan and sällsam, from Proto-Germanic *seldanē. The second part is -synt. Thus, literally, "seldom seen".

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /²sɛlˌsyːnt/
Audio (Gotland): (file)

Adjective

sällsynt (comparative mer sällsynt, superlative mest sällsynt)

scarce, rare, uncommon

Usage notes

The comparative may be expressed by inflection (see the second declension table), but the superlative is rarely seen in this form, and if so, mainly as predicative.

Declension

Inflection of **sällsynt**
Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative¹
common singular	sällsynt	mer sällsynt	mest sällsynt
neuter singular	sällsynt	mer sällsynt	mest sällsynt
plural	sällsynta	mer sällsynta	mest sällsynta
masculine plural²	sällsynte	mer sällsynta	mest sällsynta

Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular³	sällsynte	mer sällsynte	mest sällsynte
all	sällsynta	mer sällsynta	mest sällsynta

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Inflection of **sällsynt**
Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative¹
common singular	sällsynt	sällsyntare	sällsyntast
neuter singular	sällsynt	sällsyntare	sällsyntast
plural	sällsynta	sällsyntare	sällsyntast
masculine plural²	sällsynte	sällsyntare	sällsyntast

Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular³	sällsynte	sällsyntare	sällsyntaste
all	sällsynta	sällsyntare	sällsyntaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Synonyms

ovanlig

References

“sällsynt”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
“sällsynt”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
“sällsynt”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
sällsynt in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)