declare

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈklɛə/ (UK); /dɪˈklɛɚ/, /dəˈklɛɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English declaren, from Old French declarer, to explain, or directly borrowed from Latin dēclārāre (“to make clear, reveal, announce”),^[2][3][4] from dē-, here intensive, and clārāre, to make clear, from clārus, clear (see clear).^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make clear something obscure, to explain: about 1325 in the OED, the mid-14th century in Etymonline;^[6][2] to decide a legal question, before 1338, in Mannyng's Chronicle.^[3]

Semantic evolution

To make known by words, state explicitly, proclaim, is from the late 14th century (about 1330 in the OED),^[2][6] and the meaning proclaim or state is first recorded by Barnhart in 1399.^[3] To assert or affirm is from the mid-15th century.^[2] To pronounce someone to be something is from 1538,^[6] and to declare war from 1552.^[6] To make a statement of dutiable goods, and to name trumps in bridge, are later specialized senses.^[7][8] Declaration is from about 1380, in Chaucer, and declarative from about 1445.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1325 – to make clear.^[6]
• before 1338 – to decide a legal question.^[3]
• c. 1380 – declaration.^[3]
• 1399 – to proclaim.^[3]
• mid-15th century – to affirm.^[2]
• 1552 – to declare war.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To make known formally or officially; to announce.
2. To state officially that someone or something is as specified.
3. To state emphatically; to affirm.
4. To show or reveal.
5. To make known one's choice or opinion, often with for or against.
6. To make a full statement of dutiable goods or taxable income.

Word family

• declarable
• declarer
• misdeclare
• predeclare
• redeclare
• declarant
• declaration
• declarative

Related words

• clear
• clarify
• clarity

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins