clairière

Forms

clairière f (plural clairières)^[1] The spelling clarière is found in 1660 in La Fontaine, clairière in Furetière in 1690.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French clair + -ière.^[4][1][3] The adjective clair comes from Latin clārus (“clear, bright”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi and the DHLF date it before 1573, in Jodelle's Ode de la chasse, for a part of a wood without trees.^[4][6] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF give 1660 (La Fontaine, spelled clarière).^[5][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense of an open space in a forest.^[6][7] By analogy it was said from 1752 of a thin, loosely woven part of a fabric.^[2][8] Forestry has built technical compounds on it, such as pré-clairière (1922).^[6]

Timeline

• before 1573 – Jodelle uses it in his Ode de la chasse.^[4][6]
• 1660 – La Fontaine writes clarière.^[2][5]
• 1690 – Furetière records the spelling clairière.^[2]
• 1752 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux gives the fabric sense.^[2]
• 1922 – Pré-clairière appears.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A clearing or glade, a place without trees in a wood or forest.^[7][9][1]
2. A thin part of a fabric where the weave is loose.^[9][2]

Related words

• clair
• éclaircie

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c 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
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)