Clarify: Making a Statement Clear, and Making Butter Clear
To clarify is to make something easier to understand. In cooking it means to remove solids from a liquid, which is the older and more literal sense.
Clarify means to make clear. The kitchen sense is the original one and explains the word: clarifying butter or stock means taking out whatever clouds it. Clarifying a statement does exactly the same job to a sentence.
- To make easier to understand. *Let me clarify what I meant.*
- To remove solids from a liquid. *Clarify the butter over a low heat.*
- To become clear. *The position clarified over the following week.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | clarify | Please clarify the deadline. |
| Noun | clarification | A written clarification. |
| Adjective | clarified | Clarified butter. |
| Related | clarity | Clarity of expression. |
| Opposite | obscure | That only obscures the point. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Could you clarify the second condition?A polite way to say you did not follow it.
- The department issued a clarification the next day.Often a correction in polite clothing.
- Clarified butter keeps far longer than fresh.The milk solids are what spoil.
Clarify, explain, define and elaborate
- Clarify — remove confusion from something already said
- Explain — set out how or why something is so
- Define — state exactly what a term means
- Elaborate — add more detail, not necessarily more clarity
- Asking someone to clarify implies the fault is in the wording, not in your attention
From Old French *clarifier*, from Late Latin *clarificare*, to make clear, from *clarus*, clear or bright. The same *clarus* gives clarity, declare, clarinet and the name Clara.
Clarify or clarification?
Clarify is the verb, clarification the noun. *Ask for clarification* and *ask them to clarify* say the same thing.
What is clarified butter?
Butter melted so that the water evaporates and the milk solids can be removed, leaving pure butterfat. Ghee is a cooked version.