clarity

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈklær.ə.ti/, US /ˈkler.ə.t̬i/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English clarte, borrowed from Old French clarté (“clarity, brightness”),^[2][3][4] later reshaped as clarite, perhaps by a new borrowing of Latin clāritās (“brightness, splendour, clearness”),^[2][3][5] from clārus (“clear”) (see clear).^[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Brightness, radiance, glory: probably about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline;^[2][3] divine glory about 1340 in the OED.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The modern form clarite is from about 1425.^[2][3] The original senses, brightness and splendour, are obsolete.^[3][7] Clearness of colour, judgement or style is from the mid-15th century in Etymonline,^[3] and the current sense dates from the early 17th century (1616) in the OED and the NODE.^[7][5]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – clarte, brightness.^[2][3]
• c. 1340 – divine glory.^[7]
• c. 1425 – clarite.^[2]
• 1616 – clearness.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Clearness of thought or expression; lucidity.
2. Clearness of appearance, as of water.

Word family

• unclarity

Related words

• clear
• clarify
• declare

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press