滅多に
めったに · mettani · JLPT N3 · adverb
rarely
Sounds like met any: I have rarely met any, and it pairs with a negative verb
滅 means wipe out and 多 means many, so the many are wiped out and few are left. Always use it with a negative verb: 滅多に行かない means I rarely go. The word 滅多 is ateji, meaning its kanji were picked for their sound.
多 — two 夕 (evening) stacked
多 originally depicted two pieces of meat (夕, a variant of 肉) stacked together, suggesting abundance. Over time it was reanalyzed as two 'evenings' piled up — many evenings meaning many days, hence 'many, much'. The doubling itself conveys quantity.