chiarire

Forms

chiarire (first-person singular present chiarìsco, first-person singular past historic chiarìi, past participle chiarìto, auxiliary (transitive) avére or (intransitive) èssere)^[1]

Etymology

GRADIT, Devoto–Oli, Treccani and Wiktionary explain it as from Italian chiaro (“clear”) + -ire.^[2][3][4][1] DEI, Sabatini–Coletti, Zingarelli and the GDLI derive it instead from Latin clāreō (“to shine, to be clear”), itself from clārus (“bright, clear”).^[5][6][7][8] The TLIO, following DEI, also names clārēscō (“to become clear”).^[9] DELI and Nocentini list the verb under the adjective without further comment.^[10][11]

The Latin verb meant “to shine brightly”, “to be plain to the mind” and “to be famous”.^[12] De Vaan notes that the adjective first meant “loud”, and compares the same shift from “loud” to “bright” in German hell.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Brunetto Latini's Rettorica, of about 1260–1261, with the sense of making a concept or the course of events clear.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used it for making bright, for washing clean, for becoming brighter (said of the dawn), and in law for setting out the terms of an agreement or making someone's status public.^[9] Dante in the Paradiso has nel chiarir di fuori “in shining outwardly”.^[14][4]

It was later used for clarifying liquids such as sugar, and in painting for adding the highlights to a drawing, as Cennini does.^[8] Today the figurative senses of explaining and settling a doubt are the main ones, and the reflexive chiarirsi is used for two people clearing up a misunderstanding.^[2][6][7]

Timeline

• 1260–1261 – Brunetto Latini uses chiarire in his Rettorica.^[9]
• Before 1294 – DELI's date, also from Brunetto Latini.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To clarify a liquid; to make a colour lighter, schiarire.^[2][3][6]
2. (figurative) To make understandable, explain: Il docente ha chiarito la regola con un esempio.^[2][3][6][7]
3. To resolve a doubt or mystery: chiarire un equivoco.^[2][3][7]
4. To make plain, establish the facts, sometimes as a threat.^[2][3]
5. (literary) To inform or convince someone.^[3][6][15]
6. (intransitive) To become clear or bright; of the sky, to clear up.^[2][7]
7. (chiarirsi) To become clearer, of a situation; of two people, to settle a misunderstanding: Dopo la lite si sono chiariti.^[6][7][15]

Word family

• chiarimento
• chiarita
• chiaritore
• chiaritura
• chiaritoio
• richiarire

Related words

• chiarificare
• chiaro
• schiarire
• Latin clāreō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
6. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana