Obs. Forms: 3–6 clare, 4 clarree, clerrey, clerre, 4–6 clarre, clarry, 5 clareye, clerye, 5–6 clarey, 6 clarie, 7 claree, 6– clary. [ME. claré, a. OF. claré:—L. type clārātum (see Du Cange), a ppl. form, lit. ‘that which is cleared or clarified.’ Claretum also occurs in later med.L. (f. Fr.), whence CLARET sb.1 in the same sense.]
A sweet liquor consisting of a mixture of wine, clarified honey, and various spices, as pepper and ginger. Also (rarely) clary wine.
(See Recipe ‘To make clarre’ from Sloane MS. 2584 lf. 173, quoted in Promp. Parv., 79; also in Househ. Ord., 473. App. only a historical term since the 16th c.)
c. 1300. Havelok, 1728. Pyment to drinke, and god clare, Win hwit and red, ful god plente.
c. 1300. K. Alis., 7582. Wyn and pyment gan they schenche And wyne clarrè and wyne greek.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Former Age, 16. No man yit in the morter spices grond To clarre ne to sawse of galentyne. Ibid. (c. 1386), Knt.’s T., 613. For he hath give drinke his gaylor soo Of a clarre, maad of a certayn wyn.
c. 1430. Syr Gener. (Roxb.), 1578. A cup of gold befor hir stoode Ful of clarre wyne ful goode.
c. 1450. Lat.-Eng. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 573. Claretum, clareye.
1530. Palsgr., 205/2. Clarry wyne, cleré.
1591. Percyvall, Sp. Dict., Clarea, clarie, drinke of hony and wine, mulsum.
1654. Gayton, Festiv. Notes, IV. ix. 233. A lusty dish of egs and Clar-ee.
1672. Marvell, Reh. Transp., I. 203. Bishop Bonner lov’d it like Clary and Eggs.
1700. Congreve, Way of World, IV. v. The most noble spirit of clary.
1824. Southey, Sir T. More (1831), II. 286. Almost as obsolete as metheglin, hippocras, clary or morat!
