"clear" in seven languages
Meaningclear
Spanish
claro
/ˈklaɾo/
inherited
Kept cl- instead of the expected ll- (compare llave), probably under the pull of written Latin.
French
clair
/klɛʁ/
inherited
Italian
chiaro
/ˈkjaro/
inherited
Portuguese
claro
/ˈklaɾu/
learned
Portuguese turns inherited CL- into ch- (CLĀVEM → chave); claro kept the cluster, a learned shape.
Romanian
clar
/klar/
learned
The inherited CLĀRUM is chiar 'even, really': CL- → chi-.
Catalan
clar
/kla/
inherited
English
clear
/klɪɹ/
from Latin/French · Old French cler
English → ItalianclearchiaroCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
CLĀRUM‘bright, clear, famous’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Italian chi- for cl- is the regular change (chiave, chiaro). French free a fronted to [ɛ], spelled ai. Spanish ¡claro! also means 'of course!'.
English relatives: clarity, clarify, declare, claret
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl agua está muy clara.
- frL'eau est très claire.
- itL'acqua è molto chiara.
- ptA água é muito clara.
- roApa e foarte clară.
- caL'aigua és molt clara.
- enThe water is very clear.
More words from the same Latin
More in Describing words
- main, principalprincipalprincipalprincipaleprincipalprincipalprincipal
- similarsimilarsimilairesimileparecidoasemănătorsemblant
- totaltotaltotaltotaletotaltotaltotal
- common, sharedcomúncommuncomunecomumcomuncomú
- militarymilitarmilitairemilitaremilitarmilitarmilitar
- perfectperfectoparfaitperfettoperfeitoperfectperfecte