I am reading Lingua Latin Per Se Illustrata: Pars I, Familia Romana. I must say that the book is excellent and is helping me a lot.
However, I have noticed that a lot of the words from the book, when I look them up on Whitakers Words (http://www.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/words.exe, they are listed as "rare", "uncommon", "medieval", or "lesser" (which I assume means simply "less common").
Does this mean that these words were not in common use? If so then why are they included in a beginners book? I am not sure which is more reliable, the Lingua Latina book, or Whitakers Words.
For example, if you look up these words from the book on Whitakers Words:
Operiri - listed as "lesser"
Vereri - listed as "lesser"
Pretium - listed as both "medieval" and "uncommon"
These are just a few I can remember, but there are many others. Any ideas on this? Should I bother to memorize these words?