rara avis

The story

1. Latin · learned borrowing fromrārae avēs
2. Latin · borrowed fromrāra avis“rare bird”
3. English todayrara avis

Unadapted borrowing from Latin rāra avis (“rare bird”). The synonym rare bird is attested earlier. The term is a quotation from Satire VI (written late 1st century – early 2nd century C.E.) of the Roman poet Juvenal: “Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno [a bird as rare upon the earth as a black swan]!”. The plural form rarae aves is a learned borrowing from Latin rārae avēs.

Words from the same roots