Etymologically
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clarus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɫaː.rʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈklaː.rus][1]

Forms

clārus (feminine clāra, neuter clārum, comparative clārior, superlative clārissimus, adverb clārē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *klāro- (“loud”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kl̥h₁-ro- (“loud, sonorous”), a derivative in *-ro- of the root Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call, shout”) seen in calāre and clāmāre, so that it is a doublet of classis and concilium.[2][1][3][4] The suffix is the same as in gnārus.[3] Cognate with Ancient Greek καλέω (kaléō, “to call”).[1] The shift from “loud” to “bright” has a parallel in Old High German hel (“loud”), which became German hell (“bright”).[2][1] Isidore of Seville derived it from caelum, “because it shines”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius uses it of the loud sound with which Jupiter thundered,[3][2] and Köbler dates it from Plautus,[6] who has it both of a loud voice and of a shield brighter than the sun's rays.[3]

Semantic evolution

From “loud” (clara voce) it passed to bright light and shining objects, gems, gold, marble and sunlit places, then to clear sight (Cato's remedy for eyes that are “not clear enough”) and to what is plain and unambiguous, luce clarior, “clearer than daylight”.[3][7] Of persons and deeds it meant well-known or notorious, and then famous, often with the field of renown in the ablative.[3]

Vir clarissimus was an honorific that in the Empire came to be restricted to men of senatorial rank, so that the jurists speak of clarissimae personae.[3] Medieval accounts use it for a net sum, Köbler records medieval senses “pure, unadulterated” and a noun meaning a white stone or a noble, and in England clara historia was a clerestory.[8][6][9] Luther still writes clarum est for “it is evident”.[10] It survives as Italian chiaro, Spanish and Portuguese claro, Old French cler and Romanian chiar.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of thunder.[3][2]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a loud voice and a bright shield, and of a man wishing to be famous.[3][6]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of clear eyesight.[3][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of plain statements, of famous orators and in vir clarissimus.[3][6]
  • 140–180 AD – Gaius uses clara persona of a senator.[3][6]
  • 7th–8th century – Niermeyer's earliest medieval citation, of a net account.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Loud, sonorous, clear to the ear.[3][7]
  2. Bright, shining, clear; gleaming; sunlit.[3][7]
  3. (of the eyes) Seeing clearly.[3]
  4. Distinct, plain, unambiguous.[3]
  5. Well-known, notorious.[3]
  6. Famous, celebrated, illustrious, as in vir clarissimus, a man of senatorial rank.[3][7]
  7. (Medieval Latin) Net, of accounts; pure, unadulterated.[8][6]

Word family

  • clāricō
  • clārificō
  • clārigō
  • clārisonus
  • clarissimatus
  • clāritās
  • clāritūdō
  • clārō
  • inclārus
  • praeclārus
  • speculoclārus
  • clārē
  • acclārō
  • clārescō
  • clārificātiō
  • clārigātiō
  • clāror
  • dēclārātiō
  • dēclārātīvus
  • dēclārātor
  • dēclārō
  • exclārō
  • calō
  • clāmō
  • English clear
  • English clarinet
  • English declare

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes clarus, renowned for services to one's country, from illūstris, renowned for rank and virtue, and nōbilis, belonging to a family already honoured with office, while celeber and inclutus express celebrity in general.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
  11. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper