seldom
[ sel-duhm ]
/ ˈsɛl dəm /
adverb
on only a few occasions; rarely; infrequently; not often: We seldom see our old neighbors anymore.
adjective
rare; infrequent.
Origin of seldom
before 900; Middle English; Old English
seldum, variant of
seldan; cognate with German
selten, Gothic
silda-
historical usage of seldom
The adverb
seldom has several spellings in Old English, among them
seldan, seldon, seldun, and
seldum. The last form is an innovation modeled on the dative plurals of nouns used as adverbs, for example Old English
hwīlum “at times, sometimes,” the source of the archaic English
whilom, from the noun
hwīl “a space of time, an indefinite time, a while.” Old English
seldan (but not the spelling
seldum ) corresponds to Old Frisian
sielden, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch
selden, and German
selten.
OTHER WORDS FROM seldom
sel·dom·ness, nounWords nearby seldom
selamlik,
selangor,
selby,
selcouth,
selden,
seldom,
seldomly,
select,
select committee,
selecta,
selectance
Example sentences from the Web for seldom
British Dictionary definitions for seldom
seldom
/ (ˈsɛldəm) /
adverb
not often; rarely
Word Origin for seldom
Old English
seldon; related to Old Norse
sjāldan, Old High German
seltan