Etymologically
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clair

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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)