clarity
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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
- Clearness of thought or expression; lucidity.
- Clearness of appearance, as of water.
Word family
- unclarity
Related words
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press