Clare

//klɛə// name, noun, slang

name, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Synonym of Poor Clare: a nun of the Order of Saint Clare.

    "The chief house of the Clares in England stood near Aldgate; it was built by Blanche, queen of Navarre, and her husband Edmund, earl of Lancaster, Leicester and Darby, son to Henry III. and brother to Edward I. These nuns were Urbanists, and enjoyed revenues. They were called Clares or Minoresses, and their house the Minories..."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A county of Ireland.
  2. 2
    A female given name from Latin, more often spelled Claire from the 20th century onward.

    "Yes, truly: I speak not as desiring more, But rather wishing a more strict restraint Upon the sisterhood, the votarists of Saint Clare."

  3. 3
    A surname from Old English derived from Old English clǣġ (“clay”) as an occupational name for a worker in clay.
  4. 4
    A town in County Cavan, Ireland.
  5. 5
    A small town and civil parish with a town council in West Suffolk district, Suffolk, England, previously in St Edmundsbury district (OS grid ref TL7745).
Show 14 more definitions
  1. 6
    A male given name transferred from the surname, of quite uncommon usage.
  2. 7
    A district municipality in Digby County, Nova Scotia, Canada, named after County Clare.
  3. 8
    A hamlet in Pyrton parish, South Oxfordshire district, Oxfordshire, England (OS grid ref SU6798).
  4. 9
    A number of places in the United States, likely to be named after County Clare:; An unincorporated community in DeKalb County, Illinois.
  5. 10
    Ellipsis of Clare College, Cambridge. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, informal
  6. 11
    A number of places in the United States, likely to be named after County Clare:; An unincorporated community in White River Township, Hamilton County, Indiana.
  7. 12
    A number of places in the United States, likely to be named after County Clare:; A minor city in Webster County, Iowa; after County Clare.
  8. 13
    A number of places in the United States, likely to be named after County Clare:; An unincorporated community in Johnson County, Kansas.
  9. 14
    A number of places in the United States, likely to be named after County Clare:; A city mostly in Clare County, Michigan; after its county and County Clare.
  10. 15
    A number of places in the United States, likely to be named after County Clare:; A town in St. Lawrence County, New York.
  11. 16
    A town in Mpumalanga province, South Africa.
  12. 17
    A locality in the Balranald council area, south-western New South Wales, Australia.
  13. 18
    A town in Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area, Mid North region, South Australia.
  14. 19
    A unisex given name.

    "Life on Martha’s Vineyard has been mostly ideal for 11-year-old Mary Elizabeth Lambert, the protagonist of Ann Clare LeZotte’s historical novel SHOW ME A SIGN (Scholastic, 288 pp., $18.99; ages 8 to 12)."

Synonyms

All synonyms
poor clare

Example

More examples

"In London, columnist Clare Foges worries that “we are too selfish to stop coronavirus spreading.” She wrote her biggest concern is not about the resilience of the country’s health service or the time it might take for researchers to develop a vaccine, but about the public’s willingness to respond to the challenge."

Etymology

Etymology 1

The anglicized spelling of Irish Clár, from Old Irish clár (“plank, board”), from Proto-Celtic *klāros, *klārom (“table”).

Etymology 2

Medieval English vernacular form of Clara, from the Latin clara, feminine of clarus (“bright, shining, clear”), a post-classical name made famous by the 13th century Saint Clara of Assisi. In Oxfordshire, from Clarora, a clay slope.

Related phrases

Clare CountyClare and Gilbert ValleysPoint ClareStoke-by-Clarerepublic of ireland

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.