klaar (Dutch)

Where does "klaar" come from?

The Dutch adjective 'klaar' meaning 'ready', 'finished', or 'clear'[1] descends from Middle Dutch 'clâer', which meant 'bright', 'shining', 'ready', or 'finished'[1]. This Middle Dutch form ultimately traces back to the Latin adjective 'clārus' meaning 'bright'[1]. The Latin term itself has roots in Proto-Indo-European through reconstructed forms like '*kelh₁-' meaning 'to call' or 'shout', passing through '*kl̥h₁rós' and Proto-Italic '*klāros' in the sense of 'loud'[2].

Open questions

• The derivation from Proto-Indo-European involves several reconstructed intermediate forms that are not directly attested. [2]

Full etymology tree

• klaar (Dutch), 'ready'
  • inherited clâer (Middle Dutch)
    • borrowed clarus (Latin), 'clear, bright'
      • derived *klāros (Proto-Italic)
        • suffix *-ros (Proto-Italic)
        • derived *kl̥h₁rós (Proto-Indo-European)
          • derived *kelh₁- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to call, cry, summon'

Ancestors

• clarus (Latin)

Descendants and derived words

• klaar (Afrikaans)
• kant-en-klaar (Dutch)
• klaar als een klontje (Dutch)
• klaarblijkelijk (Dutch)
• klaar is Kees (Dutch)
• klaarkomen (Dutch)
• klaarmaken (Dutch)
• klaarpijpen (Dutch)
• klaarspelen (Dutch)
• klaarstomen (Dutch)
• klaarzetten (Dutch)
• klaren (Dutch)

Sources

1. klaar (Dutch) - Wiktionary
2. clarus (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris