claire (French)
Where does "claire" come from?
French claire is simply the feminine singular form of clair, “clear, bright.” Clair came into French from Latin clarus, meaning “clear, bright, famous,” so the word has kept the core sense of brightness and clarity as it passed from Latin into French. In modern French, claire marks that same meaning in the feminine form.
Full etymology tree
- claire (French), 'feminine singular of clair'
- derived from clair (French), 'clear (see-through)'
- inherited from cler (Old French), 'bright, well-lit, not dark'
- inherited from clārus (Latin), 'clear, bright'
- inherited from cler (Old French), 'bright, well-lit, not dark'
- derived from clair (French), 'clear (see-through)'
Updated March 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris