Clarification

How to spell clarification

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce clarification

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does clarification mean?

1. nounAn explanation or further detail that makes something clearer or removes confusion.

Clarification in a sentence

• The contract was vague, so the lawyer requested clarification on the payment terms.

• After the meeting, she emailed the team for clarification about the new deadline.

Where does clarification come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin adjective clarus, which literally meant 'clear', 'bright', or 'shining', the same root that gives us 'clear', 'clarity', and 'declare'. Latin combined that adjective with facere, 'to make', to form clarificare, meaning 'to make clear or bright'. The action noun clarificatio described the act of making something clear, and English picked it up through French in the 1500s, at first often in the literal sense of clearing or purifying a liquid such as wine or butter. Over time the meaning settled mainly on the figurative idea of making a statement or situation easier to understand. The spelling preserves all three building blocks (clar + ific + ation), so remembering that it grows out of 'clear' plus 'make' helps fix the order of the letters.

How the word is built

• clar- (from clarus: clear, bright)
• -ific (from facere: to make)
• -ation (noun of action)