The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Rather \Rath"er\ (r[a^][th]"[~e]r), a. [Compar. of Rath, a.]
   Prior; earlier; former. [Obs.]
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         Now no man dwelleth at the rather town.  --Sir J.
                                                  Mandeville.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Rather \Rath"er\ (r[a^][th]"[~e]r; 277), adv. [AS. hra[eth]or,
   compar. of hra[eth]e, hr[ae][eth]e, quickly, immediately. See
   Rath, a.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. Earlier; sooner; before. [Obs.]
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            Thou shalt, quod he, be rather false than I.
                                                  --Chaucer.
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            A good mean to come the rather to grace. --Foxe.
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   2. More readily or willingly; preferably.
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            My soul chooseth . . . death rather than my life.
                                                  --Job vii. 15.
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   3. On the other hand; to the contrary of what was said or
      suggested; instead.
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            Was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. --Mark
                                                  v. 26.
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   4. Of two alternatives conceived of, this by preference to,
      or as more likely than, the other; somewhat.
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            He sought throughout the world, but sought in vain,
            And nowhere finding, rather feared her slain.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   5. More properly; more correctly speaking.
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            This is an art
            Which does mend nature, change it rather, but
            The art itself is nature.             --Shak.
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   6. In some degree; somewhat; as, the day is rather warm; the
      house is rather damp.
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   The rather, the more so; especially; for better reason; for
      particular cause.
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            You are come to me in happy time,
            The rather for I have some sport in hand. --Shak.
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   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]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

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: rather,
           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: rather, 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, rather]
    4: to a degree (not used with a negative); "quite tasty"; "quite
       soon"; "quite ill"; "quite rich" [syn: quite, rather]

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