▪ I. † claret, n.1 Obs.
[ad. med.L. clarētum, f. OF. claré, claret, clary q.v.]
= clary n.1
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. lviii. (1495) 896 Claret is made of wyne and of hony and swete spycery [Lat. Claretum ex vino et melle et speciebus aromaticis confectum]. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 658 Hoc claretum, a clarett. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 79 Claret, wyne [clarey K. clarry P.], claretum. 1559 Morwyng Evonym. 398 Ginger ij drams, Cinnamon half an unce, Cloves a dram, whyt wyne iij measures, that is xij pound, an unce of hony, whyte sugar half a pound; make claret thereof according to art. |
▪ II. claret, n.2 (a.)
(ˈklærət)
Forms: 5– claret, 5 clarett, clarrytte, clarete, (cleret, clerote), 6 clarette, -ed, Sc. clarat, 6–7 clarret(t.
[a. OF. claret, in vin claret (mod.F. clairet), from claret, clairet, dim. of clair ‘clear, light, bright’; cf. It. chiaretto dim. of chiaro, L. clārus ‘clear’. The OF. claré clary, and this claret have fallen together in mod.F. under the form clairet (see Littré).]
1. A name originally given (like F. vin clairet) to wines of yellowish or light red colour, as distinguished alike from ‘red wine’ and ‘white wine’; the contrast with the former ceased about 1600, and it was apparently then used for red wines generally, in which sense it is still, or was recently, dial. (cf. also 3). Now applied to the red wines imported from Bordeaux, generally mixed with Benicarlo or some full-bodied French wine. † a. as adj., qualifying wine. Thus used, it was apparently at first significant of colour, as in F.
| [Cf. c 1396 Manière de Langage (1873) Vin claret, vermeille, et blanc.] c 1440 Promp. Parv. 79 Claret or cleret as wyne, semiclarus. c 1500 Blowbol's Test. in Halliw. Nugæ P. 10 Rede wyn, the claret, and the white. 1513 Boke Keruynge in Babees Bk. 267 Reed wyne, whyte wyne, clared wyne. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 39 a, Frenche claret wines. 1562 W. Bullein Def. agst. Sickness lf. xi, The seconde wine is pure claret, of a cleare Iacent or Yelow choler. 1568 Withals Dict., Claret Wine, vinum sanguineum subrubrum, vel rubellum. 1587 Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 149 Small wines onlie, as Claret, White, Red, French, etc. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. vi. 4 That..The Conduit run nothing but Clarret Wine. 1611 Cotgr., Vin claret, claret wine. 1714 Gay What d'ye call it i. i. 9 My dry Lip is dy'd with Claret Wine. |
b. absol. (The earlier quots. are uncertain.)
| [? a 1400 Morte Arth. 200 Þane clarett and Creette, clergyally rennene, With condethes fulle curious alle of clene silvyre. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 477 Of wynys I haue grete plente, Both whyte wynne and red þat [ys] so cleyr..Clary wynne and claret, and other moo.] c 1535 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. (1852) 909 The whyte wyn, the claret (le claret), the wyne red. c 1575 Art of Planting 74 Vessels of white wine..or Claret and such like. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farme 638 Amongst these our French vvines, some are white, othersome are of a deepe yellow, commonly called clarets, or reddish vvines, vvhich are the most wholesome of all..The rest are all red, more or lesse. 1689 Locke Lett. Toleration i. 51 Others have their Clubs for Clarret. 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4333/8 To be sold an entire Parcel of New French..Claret..being of the Growth of Lafitt, Margouze, and La Tour. 1778 Johnson in Boswell 29 Apr., A man may choose between abstemiousness and knowledge, or claret and ignorance. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Claret, any sort of foreign red wine. 1836 C. Redding Hist. Mod. Wines iii. (ed. 2) 53 There is no pure wine in France like that which is designated claret in England. This wine is a mixture of Bordeaux with Benicarlo, or with some full wine of France. Clairet wines..signify those which are..rose-coloured. 1861 Sir J. Bowring Autobiog. Recollect. (1877) 373 The four clarets of the first quality. |
2. Pugilistic slang. Blood.
| 1604 Dekker 1st Pt. Honest Wh. i. vii, Wks. 1873 II. 45 This should be a Coronation day: for my head runs Claret lustily. 1652 Benlowes Theoph. iii. lxviii. War hath our luke-warm Claret broacht with Spears. 1821 Byron Lett. 12 Dec., Besides losing some claret on the spot, [he] bruised himself a good deal. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lvi. 473 His fine shirt frill dabbled with the claret drawn from his own little nose. |
3. The colour of ‘claret’; in modern acceptation, a reddish-violet.
| 1648 Herrick Hesper., On Julia's Recovery, Health on Julia's cheek hath shed Clarret, and creame commingled. 1884 Chr. World 17 Jan. 52/1 Very rich Brocaded Plush to match in..Claret. |
b. attrib. or as adj. Claret-coloured. Cf. 1 a.
| 1547 Recorde Judic. Ur. 33 Claret and redd Urine. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong. Rougeastre, reddish or claret colour. 1630 Randolph Aristippus Wks. (1668) 299 I'll..have some Claret Whore burn him for an Heretick (cf. scarlet lady). 1736 Mortimer in Phil. Trans. XXXIX. 258 The Brimstone, the Carrot, and Claret Potatoes. 1882 Garden 25 Mar. 196/1 The deep claret hue of the Akebia. |
4. Angling. Species of artificial salmon-fly, so named from its general colour when made up.
| 1867 F. Francis Angling x. (1880) 346 The Claret..is good for sea-trout. |
5. attrib. and Comb., as claret-jug, claret-vessel; claret-coloured adj.; † claret-cunner, a connoisseur of claret; claret-cup, a mixture of iced claret with lemonade and various flavouring ingredients.
| 1777 Scott Colour Blindness in Phil. Trans. LXVIII. 613 A fine rich *claret-coloured dress. |
| 1500–20 Dunbar Remonstr. King 42 Monsouris of France, gud *clarat-cunnaris. |
| 1876 M. E. Braddon Hostages to Fortune 81 (Hoppe) He..compounds *claret-cup at the evening meal. |
| 1862 Dickens Lett. 2 Jan. (1880) II. 171 The packet will contain a *claret-jug. I hope it is a pretty thing in itself for your table. |
Hence (chiefly nonce-wds.) ˈclaret v., to drink claret (cf. to wine); clareˈteer, a drinker of claret; ˈclaretless a., without claret; ˈclarety a., having the appearance of claret.
| 1814 Byron Lett. Moore 9 Apr., We clareted and champagned till two. a 1679 Ld. Orrery Altemira ii, The Humble Claretteers resist in vain, Whilst he toasts, every Night, in politick Champaign. 1707 Hearne Collect. 5 Nov. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) II. 68 Being a stout Claretteer [he] kill'd..an Apothecary..by hard drinking. 1823 Byron Juan xiv. lviii, Leaving all-claretless the unmoisten'd throttle. 1709 Rambl. Fuddle-Cups 15 Your poor Son with that Clarety Nose. |
▪ III. † ˈclaret, n.3 Obs.
Some apparatus for drawing liquor from a cask.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 79 Claret of a tunne [1499 claret], ductilium. 1466 Paston's Fun. in Paston Lett. 549 II. 268 For claretts and fawcetts, vid. |