Word.ws English Dictionary

Clare

/klɛə//klɛɚ/

Clare proper noun: a county of Ireland. Also the ellipsis of Clare College.

Proper noun (1)

Clare

  1. A county of Ireland.
  2. A town in County Cavan, Ireland.
  3. A district municipality in Digby County, Nova Scotia, Canada, named after County Clare.
  4. An unincorporated community in DeKalb County, Illinois.
  5. An unincorporated community in White River Township, Hamilton County, Indiana.
  6. A minor city in Webster County, Iowa; after County Clare.
  7. An unincorporated community in Johnson County, Kansas.
  8. A city mostly in Clare County, Michigan; after its county and County Clare.
  9. A town in St. Lawrence County, New York.
  10. A town in Mpumalanga province, South Africa.
  11. A locality in the Balranald council area, south-western New South Wales, Australia.
  12. A town in Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area, Mid North region, South Australia.

Proper noun (2)

Clare

  1. A unisex 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.Act I, Scene iv
    • Following Francis' example, Clare founded an order of religious women known as the Poor Ladies of Assisi (like Francis' Poor Men), and later as the Clarissas or Poor Clares in her honor.1991, Thomas Head, "Clare of Assisi", An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers
  2. 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).
  3. A hamlet in Pyrton parish, South Oxfordshire district, Oxfordshire, England (OS grid ref SU6798).

Noun

Clare (plural Clares)

  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...1759, Alban Butler, The Lives of the... Saints, volume IV, page 87
    Synonyms:
    Poor Clare

Proper noun (3)

Clare

  1. A surname from Old English derived from Old English clǣġ (“clay”) as an occupational name for a worker in clay.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname, of quite uncommon usage.

Also used as

Clare is also the ellipsis of Clare College.

Synonyms of Clare

Forms of Clare

pluralClares

Origin of Clare

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

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.

Words formed from Clare

Phrases with Clare

Words that rhyme with Clare

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about Clare

What does Clare mean?
Clare means a county of Ireland.
What part of speech is Clare?
Clare can be a proper noun or a noun.
How do you pronounce Clare?
Clare is pronounced /klɛə/ (UK).

Words near Clare in the dictionary

  1. Clarbeston Road
  2. Clarborough
  3. Clarborough and Welham
  4. Clardy
  5. Clardys
  6. Clare
  7. Clare and Gilbert Valleys
  8. Clare County
  9. Clare Hall
  10. clare-obscure
  11. Clareburt

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Clare (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Clare.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Aika77-Clare.wav.

Cite this entry: “Clare.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clare. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.