Declare

How to spell declare

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce declare

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does declare mean?

1. verbTo state or announce something openly, formally, or officially.

Declare in a sentence

• Travellers must declare any goods bought abroad at customs.

• The company will declare its annual profits next week.

Where does declare come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin declarare, meaning 'to make clear' or 'to reveal'. It was built from the intensifying prefix de- and the adjective clarus, which literally meant 'clear' or 'bright', the same root that gives us 'clear', 'clarify' and 'clarity'. The sense was to make something plainly known, to set it out brightly for all to see. English borrowed it through Old French 'declarer' during the 1300s, when it carried both the everyday meaning of announcing openly and the formal legal sense of making a sworn statement. That second strand survives today whenever travellers declare goods at customs or taxpayers declare their income. Because the final syllable rests on the bright Latin clarus, the spelling keeps a single 'l' and ends in -clare rather than the tempting -clair.

How the word is built

• de- (fully, thoroughly)
• clare (from clarus: clear, bright)