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Raʹra Aʹvis (Latin, a rare bird)

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A phenomenon; a prodigy; a something quite out of the common course. Black swans are now familiar to us; they are natives of Australia, and have given its name to the “Swan river.” At one time a black swan was emphatically a rara avis.

“Rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cygne.”


 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Ranks
Rantipole
Ranz des Vaches
Rap
Rape
Rape of the Lock
Raphael
Raphael of Cats (The)
Rapparee
Rappee
Rara Avis (Latin, a rare bird)
Rare Ben
Raree Show
Rascal
Rascal Counters
Rasher
Rashleigh Osbaldistone
Rasiel
Raspberry
Rasselas
Rat

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Black Swan