clarifier

English

Etymology

clarify +‎ -er

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklɛɹəfaɪɚ/

Noun

clarifier (plural clarifiers)

1. One who, or that which, clarifies.
2. (linguistics) A speech act intended to clarify or correct one's own prior utterance.
3. A vessel in which the process of clarification is conducted.
   • 1833, Benjamin Silliman, Manual on the Cultivation of the Sugar Cane:

     the purer the sugar, when placed in the clarifier, the less lime water or blood, or temper of any kind — the less time in clarifying — and the more active vigilance at the clarifier — and the more activity also in transferring the liquor from the evaporator into the cooler will be requisite.

4. (cartomancy) An additional card used to enhance or explain the primary cards in a spread.
   • 2004, Barbara Moore, What Tarot Can Do for You: Your Future in the Cards, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN, page 20:

     […] if any card in the spread puzzles you, you can pull another card from the deck as a clarifier.

Translations

Who or that which clarifies

A card used to explain a spread's primary cards

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin clārificāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kla.ʁi.fje/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

clarifier

1. to clarify

Conjugation

Conjugation of clarifier (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	clarifier
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	clarifiant /kla.ʁi.fjɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		clarifié /kla.ʁi.fje/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	clarifie /kla.ʁi.fi/	clarifies /kla.ʁi.fi/	clarifie /kla.ʁi.fi/	clarifions /kla.ʁi.fjɔ̃/	clarifiez /kla.ʁi.fje/	clarifient /kla.ʁi.fi/
	imperfect	clarifiais /kla.ʁi.fjɛ/	clarifiais /kla.ʁi.fjɛ/	clarifiait /kla.ʁi.fjɛ/	clarifiions /kla.ʁi.fi.jɔ̃/	clarifiiez /kla.ʁi.fi.je/	clarifiaient /kla.ʁi.fjɛ/
	past historic2	clarifiai /kla.ʁi.fje/	clarifias /kla.ʁi.fja/	clarifia /kla.ʁi.fja/	clarifiâmes /kla.ʁi.fjam/	clarifiâtes /kla.ʁi.fjat/	clarifièrent /kla.ʁi.fjɛʁ/
	future	clarifierai /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁe/	clarifieras /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁa/	clarifiera /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁa/	clarifierons /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁɔ̃/	clarifierez /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁe/	clarifieront /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	clarifierais /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁɛ/	clarifierais /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁɛ/	clarifierait /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁɛ/	clarifierions /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁjɔ̃/	clarifieriez /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁje/	clarifieraient /kla.ʁi.fi.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	clarifie /kla.ʁi.fi/	clarifies /kla.ʁi.fi/	clarifie /kla.ʁi.fi/	clarifiions /kla.ʁi.fi.jɔ̃/	clarifiiez /kla.ʁi.fi.je/	clarifient /kla.ʁi.fi/
	imperfect2	clarifiasse /kla.ʁi.fjas/	clarifiasses /kla.ʁi.fjas/	clarifiât /kla.ʁi.fja/	clarifiassions /kla.ʁi.fja.sjɔ̃/	clarifiassiez /kla.ʁi.fja.sje/	clarifiassent /kla.ʁi.fjas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	clarifie /kla.ʁi.fi/	—	clarifions /kla.ʁi.fjɔ̃/	clarifiez /kla.ʁi.fje/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• beurre clarifié

Further reading

• “clarifier”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.