Clearance

How to spell clearance

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce clearance

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does clearance mean?

1. nounThe act of removing obstructions, contents, or unwanted material from a place.
2. nounOfficial permission or approval for something to proceed, such as access, departure, or security access.
3. nounThe amount of free space or distance between two objects.
4. nounA sale in which a shop reduces prices to sell off remaining stock.

Clearance in a sentence

• The council scheduled the clearance of fallen trees from the main road.

• The pilot waited for clearance from the control tower before taxiing.

• The lorry barely had enough clearance to pass under the low bridge.

• She bought the winter coat at half price during the clearance sale.

• Snow clearance on the motorway took most of the morning.

• The contractor needed security clearance to enter the data centre.

Where does clearance come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word is built on the adjective 'clear', which English took from Old French 'cler' in the 1200s; that in turn came from the Latin 'clarus', meaning 'bright', 'shining', or 'unobstructed'. To this base English later attached the noun-forming suffix '-ance', which itself descends from the Latin '-antia' and was used to turn a verb or adjective into a word naming an action or state. 'Clearance' appears in English from the early 1600s, originally describing the act of making something clear or free, then branching into the senses of official permission, of the physical gap left when an obstruction is removed, and of the selling-off of stock to clear a shop. The same 'clarus' root sits behind 'clarify', 'declare', and even the name 'Clara', all carrying that idea of brightness or making plain. For spelling, the trap is the ending: it is the '-ance' suffix, not '-ence', so remember that 'clear' keeps every one of its letters before the suffix is simply added on.

How the word is built

• clear (from Latin clarus: bright, clear)
• -ance (noun suffix forming a state or action)