[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

rather \rath"er\ ra^th"~er; 277, adv. as. hraethor,
   compar. of hraethe, hraeethe, quickly, immediately. see
   rath, a.
   1913 webster
   1. earlier; sooner; before. obs.
      1913 webster

            thou shalt, quod he, be rather false than i.
                                                  --chaucer.
      1913 webster

            a good mean to come the rather to grace. --foxe.
      1913 webster

   2. more readily or willingly; preferably.
      1913 webster

            my soul chooseth . . . death rather than my life.
                                                  --job vii. 15.
      1913 webster

   3. on the other hand; to the contrary of what was said or
      suggested; instead.
      1913 webster

            was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. --mark
                                                  v. 26.
      1913 webster

   4. of two alternatives conceived of, this by preference to,
      or as more likely than, the other; somewhat.
      1913 webster

            he sought throughout the world, but sought in vain,
            and nowhere finding, rather feared her slain.
                                                  --dryden.
      1913 webster

   5. more properly; more correctly speaking.
      1913 webster

            this is an art
            which does mend nature, change it rather, but
            the art itself is nature.             --shak.
      1913 webster

   6. in some degree; somewhat; as, the day is rather warm; the
      house is rather damp.
      1913 webster

   the rather, the more so; especially; for better reason; for
      particular cause.
      1913 webster

            you are come to me in happy time,
            the rather for i have some sport in hand. --shak.
      1913 webster

   had rather, or would rather, prefer to; prefers to; as,
      he had rather, or would rather go than stay. "i had rather
      speak five words with my understanding than ten thousand
      words in an unknown tongue." --1 cor. xiv. 19. see had
      rather, under had.
      1913 webster
see also:
rath the rather had rather would rather had rather had 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

rather \rath"er\ ra^th"~er, a. compar. of rath, a.
   prior; earlier; former. obs.
   1913 webster

         now no man dwelleth at the rather town.  --sir j.
                                                  mandeville.
   1913 webster
see also:
rath 

[3] : WordNet (r) 2.0

rather
     adv 1: on the contrary; "rather than disappoint the children, he
            did two quick tricks before he left"; "he didn't call;
            rather or instead, he wrote her a letter"; "used
            english terms instead of latin ones" syn: instead
     2: to some great or small extent; "it was rather cold"; "the
        party was rather nice"; "the knife is rather dull"; "i
        rather regret that i cannot attend"; "he's rather good at
        playing the cello"; "he is kind of shy" syn: kind of, kinda,
         sort of
     3: more readily or willingly; "clean it well, preferably with
        warm water"; "i'd rather be in philadelphia"; "i'd sooner
        die than give up" syn: preferably, sooner
     4: to a degree not used with a negative; "quite tasty";
        "quite soon"; "quite ill"; "quite rich" syn: quite
see also:
instead kind of kinda sort of preferably sooner 
quite 

[4] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

173 moby thesaurus words for "rather":
   ok, roger, a bit, a little, a rebours, absolutely, acceptably,
   adequately, after all, again, against the grain, albeit, all right,
   all the same, alright, alrighty, alternately, alternatively,
   although, amen, arsy-varsy, as an alternative, as you say,
   assuredly, at all events, at any rate, aye, before, but,
   by all means, by choice, by contraries, by election, by proxy,
   by vote, certainly, choose, choose rather, contra, contrarily,
   contrariously, contrariwise, conversely, da, decently, even,
   even so, exactly, extremely, fairishly, fairly, fairly well,
   faute de mieux, favor, fine, first, for all that, good,
   good enough, have a bias, have preference, have rather, hear,
   honor before, howbeit, however, in a measure, in a way,
   in any case, in any event, in flat opposition, in its place,
   in its stead, in loco parentis, in preference, in some measure,
   indeed, indeedy, instead, inversely, it is that, ja, just so,
   just the opposite, just the same, kind of, lean towards,
   like better, mais oui, moderately, more, more or less,
   most assuredly, naturally, naturellement, nay rather, nevertheless,
   nonetheless, notwithstanding, of course, okay, on the contrary,
   oppositely, otherwise, oui, passably, per contra, please,
   positively, precisely, prefer, prefer to, preferably, presentably,
   pretty, pretty well, quite, quite the contrary, rather than,
   really, respectably, right, right as rain, right you are, righto,
   satisfactorily, scarcely, see fit, set before, slightly, so-so,
   somewhat, sooner, sooner than, sort of, still, sure, sure thing,
   surely, that is so, think best, think fit, think proper, though,
   to a degree, to be sure, to some extent, to the contrary,
   tolerably, topsy-turvy, tout au contraire, truly, unexceptionably,
   upside down, very, very well, vice versa, well and good,
   well enough, when, why yes, yea, yeah, yep, yes, yes indeed,
   yes indeedy, yes sir, yes sirree, yet, you are right, you said it,
   you speak truly

Rather >> R Words
Rather, definition of term: Rather
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