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Origin and history of Clara

Clara

fem. personal name, from Latin Clara, fem. of clarus "bright, shining, clear" (see clear (adj.) and compare Claire). Derivatives include Clarisse, Clarice, Clarabel, Claribel. The native form Clare was common in medieval England, perhaps owing to the popularity of St. Clare of Assisi.

Entries linking to Clara

Claire

fem. proper name, from French claire, fem. of clair literally "light, bright," from Latin clarus "clear, bright, distinct" (see clear (adj.); also compare Clara).

Clarisse

fem. proper name, often a diminutive of Clara and its relatives. Also, "a nun of the order of St. Clare" (1790s); the Franciscan order also known as the Poor Clares (c. 1600).

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clear
c. 1300, "giving light, shining, luminous;" also "not turbid; transparent, allowing light to pass through; free from impurities; morally pure, guiltless, innocent;" of colors, "bright, pure;" of weather or the sky or sea, "not stormy; mild, fair, not overcast, fully light, free f
bombshell
U.S. actress Jean Harlow (1911-1937) is from 1933; it was believed to have been loosely based on the life of screen star Clara...We wonder, in passing, why they didn't call it "The Private Life of Clara Bow" originally and let it go at that....
Saturday
figurative of revelry and especially "drunkenness and  looseness in relations between the young men and young women" ["Clara...
it
Rudyard Kipling, popularized 1927 as title of a book by Elinor Glyn, and by application of It Girl to silent-film star Clara...
covenant
c. 1300, covenaunt, "mutual compact to do or not do something, a contract," from Old French covenant, convenant "agreement, pact, promise" (12c.), originally present participle of covenir "agree, meet," from Latin convenire "come together, unite; be suitable, agree," from com- "t
memory
late 13c., "recollection (of someone or something); remembrance, awareness or consciousness (of someone or something)," also "fame, renown, reputation;" from Anglo-French memorie (Old French memoire, 11c., "mind, memory, remembrance; memorial, record") and directly from Latin mem
renege
1540s, renegue, "deny, renounce, abandon" (archaic), from Medieval Latin renegare, from Latin re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see re-), + negare "to refuse" (from PIE root *ne- "not"). The meaning "change one's mind, go back on (one's word or promise)" is by 1784. OED iden
mitigate
early 15c., "relieve (pain); make mild or more tolerable; reduce in amount or degree," from Latin mitigatus, past participle of mitigare "soften, make tender, ripen, mellow, tame," figuratively, "make mild or gentle, pacify, soothe," ultimately from mitis "gentle, soft" + root of
ignominious
early 15c., from Latin ignominiosus "disgraceful, shameful," from ignominia "disgrace, infamy, loss of a (good) name," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + nomen (genitive nominis) "name" (from PIE root *no-men- "name"). The Latin spelling perhaps influ
uncanny
1590s, in a now-obsolete meaning "mischievous, malicious;" also in 17c., "careless, incautious; unreliable, not to be trusted," from un- (1) "not" + canny (q.v.) in its old Scots and Northern English sense of "skillful, prudent, lucky" (it is a doublet of cunning). Canny had also

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