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clair

Etymology and origin of the French word clair

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis
Inherited from
Latin clarus via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (clārus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin clarus
French clair

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /klɛʁ/[1]

Forms

clair (feminine claire, masculine plural clairs, feminine plural claires)[1] Clar (10th century), Old French cler (1050), usual in the Middle Ages, clair from the 14th century, after Latin.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French cler, inherited from Latin clārus (“bright; loud; clear, evident; illustrious”).[5][2][3][6] Rey relates “clarus” to Latin calō (“to call”) and Latin clāmō (“to cry out”) (see clamer), so that it must first have described the voice before being extended to sight;[2][7] Wiktionary takes it from an Indo-European root “*kelh₁-” “to call”.[1]

Cognate with Italian chiaro, Old Occitan clar, Catalan clar, Spanish claro and Portuguese claro.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (11th century) has vis cler, a bright face;[5] the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has soleil cler, jur cler, helme cler and sanc cler, and of a sound graile cler, the clear-sounding bugles.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The near-simultaneity of the senses of sound and sight follows from the etymology.[2] From brightness the adjective came to mean “limpid” (iaue clere, mid-13th century) and “sparse” (li renc cler, about 1174; compare clairsemé, clairière).[5][2] At the end of the 12th century it was applied to the mind, “evident, intelligible”, and to a person who understands easily (style clair, 1680, esprit clair, 1690).[5][2] From 1690 it also meant “pale, light in colour”, as opposed to foncé.[2][9]

The adverb survives in voir clair, parler clair; the noun in clair de lune (1611), le plus clair de (1585), tirer au clair (1803) and en clair “uncoded” (1948).[5][2] Familiar pas clair “shady” revives an old psychological sense.[2] Derivatives include clairet (English claret), clairon (13th century) and clairière (1660).[2][3]

Timeline

  • 11th century – Vis cler in Saint Alexis.[5]
  • c. 1100 – Bright, loud, in the Chanson de Roland.[5]
  • c. 1174 – “Sparse”.[5]
  • Late 12th century – “Evident”.[5]
  • Mid-13th century – Iaue clere.[5]
  • 14th century – The form clair.[4]
  • 1585 – Le plus clair de.[5]
  • 1611 – Clair de lune.[5]
  • 1690 – “Pale (of a colour)”.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Bright, light: une pièce claire, temps clair, il fait clair.[7][9]
  2. Clear, limpid, transparent: eau claire.[1][9]
  3. Pale, light (of a colour): bleu clair, un teint clair.[1][7]
  4. Clear, plain, intelligible: un exposé clair, c'est clair: obviously.[7][10]
  5. Thin, sparse: une soupe claire, un bois clair.[7][5]
  6. Clear-sounding: une voix claire.[5][8]
  7. (familiar) Pas clair: shady, suspicious.[2]

Noun

  1. Clair de lune: moonlight, le plus clair de: most of, tirer au clair: to clear up, en clair: in plain language, uncoded.[5][11]

Adverb

  1. Clearly: voir clair, parler clair.[11][1]

Word family

  • clairet
  • clairière
  • clairon
  • clair-obscur
  • clairsemé
  • clairvoyant
  • clarté
  • éclairer
  • éclair
  • clairement
  • clamer
  • clarifier
  • Latin clārus
  • English claret

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 739b
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Clair.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/clair. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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