# seldom

Pronunciation: say "SEL-duhm" /ˈsɛldəm/

## Adverb

1. Only on rare occasions; not happening often or at regular intervals.
   - Simple: Almost never, or only once in a long while.
   - _She seldom leaves the house before noon._
   - _A storm of that size seldom strikes the coast twice in one season._

## Adjective

2. Rare and infrequent; occurring on only a few occasions. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Rare and not happening often.
   - _In that remote village, a stranger was a seldom guest._
   - _He treasured the seldom hours he could spend alone with a book._

## Origin

From late Middle English "seldom," an alteration of earlier "selden" by analogy with adverbs like "whilom," going back to Old English "seldan" and Proto-Germanic roots. It is related to Dutch "zelden," German "selten," and Swedish "sällan."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/seldom (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).