clar

Forms

clar m or n (feminine singular clară, masculine plural clari, feminine/neuter plural clare)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowed from Latin clārus (“bright, clear, famous”) of the early 19th century.^[2][3] DELR, DEX and Tiktin also name borrowed from French clair, itself adapted after the Latin word, and Ursu, cited by DELR, German klar.^[2][4][5] The DA calls it a neologism after French.^[6] DER and DN give the Latin word alone.^[3][7]

The same Latin word had already been inherited as chiar “even, exactly”, which in old texts also meant “clear, pure”, so the two are doublets.^[3][5][1] DELR thinks that a form ⟨chiar⟩ “clear” in some 19th-century sources is more likely a loan of Italian chiaro than the old Romanian word.^[2] The Latin adjective first meant “loud”: de Vaan derives it from Proto-Indo-European *klh1-ro- (“loud, sonorous”), and the shift from “loud” to “bright” has a parallel in German hell.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1818, in a book by Mihuț, with the sense “distinct, easy to make out; limpid”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

DELR's first sense covers images, sounds and ideas that are easy to make out, and limpid liquids.^[2] The DA orders the senses from light (“bright, not darkened”) through water, air and glass to sounds, texts and minds, with quotations from Eminescu, Odobescu and Hasdeu.^[6] The noun clar de lună “moonlight” is modelled on French clair de lune, and DELR dates it from Caragiale in 1893.^[2]

Derivatives followed in the 19th century: claritate (1829), clarifica (1862), and, in Eminescu, neclaritate and neclar (1868–1872).^[2]

Timeline

• 1818 – clar “distinct, limpid”, the first record.^[2][5]
• 1829 – claritate “clarity”, also as chiaritate.^[2]
• 1857 – clarisim “very clear”, also a title of reverence in Transylvania.^[2]
• 1862 – clarifica “to clarify”, in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[2]
• 1870–1872 – clarobscur “chiaroscuro”, in Eminescu.^[2]
• 1893 – the noun in clar de lună “moonlight”, in Caragiale.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. clear, distinct: of an image, easy to see; of water, limpid; of a light, bright.^[4][1]
2. Free of impurities.^[4]
3. Of a sound or voice, ringing out distinctly.^[4]
4. Of ideas or words, easy to understand, evident; of a mind, quick to grasp things, and of a person, expressing himself clearly.^[4]

Adverb

1. clearly, evidently.^[9][1]

Noun

1. In clar de lună: moonlight, bright moonlight on a clear night.^[4][9]

Word family

• clarifica
• clarificator
• clarisim
• claritate
• clarobscur
• neclar
• neclaritate
• clarvăzător

Related words

• chiar
• Latin clārus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. clar
3. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. clar
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 193
5. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. clar
6. ^ a b Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. clar
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. clar
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 429