English
scarce
Scarce comes from Old Northern French scars, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kerp- ‘to cut off, raze’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kerp-‘to cut off, raze’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400scars
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘Rare, scarce’
- Englishearliest quotation 1646scarce
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kerp-‘to cut off, raze’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400scars
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘Rare, scarce’
- Englishearliest quotation 1646scarce
Earliest quotation: 1646, An Epitaph on the Marchioness of Winchester: “The Virgin quite for her requeſt / The God…”
The story
One theory is that it derives originally from a Late Latin *scarpsus, *excarpsus, a participle form of *excarpere (‘take out’), from Latin ex- + carpere; yet the sense evolution is difficult to trace.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. The standard pronunciation having the /ɛə(ɹ)/ vowel instead of expected /ɑː(ɹ)/ is due to a tendency for Old and Middle French preconsonantal /ar/ to be borrowed as Middle English /aːr/ that only survives in this word and dace in the modern standard, but is more frequent in Early Modern English and traditional dialects; compare Scots gairden (‘garden’), lairge (‘large’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kerp- ‘to cut off, raze’
Today it means
adj Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kerp- / scarce