Etymologically
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claro

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkɫaː.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈklaː.ro][1]

Forms

clārō (present infinitive clārāre, perfect active clārāvī, supine clārātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin clārus (“bright, clear”) + -ō.[2][3][1] The adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *klāro- (“loud”) and Proto-Indo-European *klh₁-ro- (“loud, sonorous”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Ennius,[4] whom Nonius quotes for an intransitive use.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is a rare, mostly poetic verb.[5] Cicero's verse uses it of a constellation marking the start of summer and of Jupiter showing his sceptre on a high column;[2][5] Statius of a meteor lighting up its path with a long trail of flame.[2][5] Lucretius uses it of making a subject clear in verse: animi natura videtur atque animae claranda meis iam versibus esse “the nature of mind and spirit, it seems, must now be made clear in my verses”.[2] Horace uses it for making famous: illum non labor Isthmius clarabit pugilem “no Isthmian toil will make him famous as a boxer”.[2][5] Medieval writers used it for showing plainly, and reflexively for a person appearing in a vision.[6]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it intransitively, as Nonius reports.[4][2][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it for explaining.[2][7]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it for making famous.[2][7]
  • second quarter of the 9th century – Walahfrid Strabo uses it reflexively, of a person appearing in a vision.[6][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make visible, light up;[2][8] (intransitive) to be bright.[2][8]
  2. To make clear, explain.[2][9]
  3. To make famous, glorify.[2][5]
  4. (Medieval Latin) To show plainly;[6] (reflexive) to appear.[6]

Word family

Usage notes

A different claro, glossed in Greek as “sacred myrtle”, is found only in a glossary.[3][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier