seldseen

S1E1L1D2S1E1E1N1

adjective

seldom seen, rare, uncommon

OriginMiddle English seldscene ← Old English seldsīene →
Scrabble 9
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Meanings

adjectiveseldseen (not comparable)
  1. archaicnot comparableseldom seen, rare, uncommon

    And seldseen costly stones of so great price.

    c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act I
    1 more example

    […] and awakening, saw a serpent like a dragon, a seldseen sight.

    1885, Richard Francis Burton, The Arabian Nights

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
seldshewn

Origin

  1. Old Englishseldsīene
  2. Middle Englishseldscene
  3. Englishseldseen

From Middle English seldscene, seltsene (“rarely encountered, seldom seen; rare; as adv. seldom, rarely”), from Old English seldsīene, seldsēne (“rare, extraordinary, unfamiliar, uncommon”). Cognate with Old High German seltsāni, Modern German seltsam.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

needlesslessened
Cite this entry
APA

seldseen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/seldseen

MLA

“seldseen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/seldseen. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “seldseen,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/seldseen.

Source: seldseen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.