Clare
nounUK /klɛə/ · US /klɛɚ/
Etymology 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.
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Catholicism, Christianity 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...1759, Alban Butler, The Lives of the... Saints, volume IV, page 87: