What is the origin of the word “Clarinet”?

If you ask someone what a clarinet is, they will most likely be able to tell you, or at least know that it’s a musical instrument. But it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to tell you how and why it got its name. There isn’t an obvious clue in the name, so I decided to look into its origin. I found some interesting information out along the way that I’ll share in this post.

The term “clarinet” originates from the latin word for trumpet – “clario”. “Clarinet” means small trumpet and the resemblance between the trumpet and the clarinet is thought to be in the richness of the tone in both registers, in comparison with the clarinet’s predecessor – the chalumeau.

I have listed some things to consider when looking into the etymology of a word below. I will try to use these throughout while going through the origins of the flute. The things I consider are:

• Which parts of the world use the term?
• Is the word still used as its original meaning?
• When is the first known usage of the word?
• Are there any obvious words the word in question could be derived from?

I’ll use each of these bullet points to help me to draw some conclusions on the origin of the word “clarinet”. First, I’ll talk a bit about the history of the clarinet, and how it came to be invented. This gives a good background to then think about the name “clarinet” itself and where it could have originated.

The History of the Clarinet

Today, the clarinet is one of the most common musical instruments. It is a great instrument for beginners, particularly children, due to its small size and relative cheapness. It is also very much an instrument for the professional player and is widely used in orchestras and other ensembles throughout the Western world.

However, the clarinet is actually a relatively modern instrument. It is generally accepted to have been invented by Johann Christoph Denner at the beginning of the eighteenth century in Nuremberg. Even at this relatively late stage, this was not the clarinet as we would recognise it today, as there have been many modifications and additions to the design and keywork since then.

The clarinet was invented as an improvement to the chalumeau. This was a similar instrument, but was much more restricted in range and tone than the clarinet. The first iteration of the clarinet was simply a chalumeau with the addition of a register key. Today, the low register of the clarinet is called the chalumeau register, as this is the register in which the chalumeau played most comfortably.

Which words could the term “clarinet” be derived from?

The term “clarinet” might be one we all know, but its origin will probably be a surprise to most people. I certainly didn’t expect the answer I found. After discovering that the clarinet was based on the chalumeau, it would have been my guess that the word “clarinet” was in some way derived from the word “chalumeau”. However, what I found out was surprising.

Firstly, there doesn’t seem to be any link between the etymology of the term “chalumeau” and the term “clarinet”. The term “chalumeau”, comes from the Greek word “Calumus”, which means pipe. The term “clarinet” is derived from the terms “clario”, the Latin word for trumpet and “clarion”, an instrument similar to the trumpet from the Renaissance period. “Clarinet” itself means little trumpet. It seems odd that the clarinet would be named after a trumpet, so we still need to look into this further to see where this comes from.

The next step is to look into where the term “clarion” comes from. This is a combination of three Latin words – “clario”, which as stated above is the Latin word for trumpet, “clarus”, an adjective meaning bright and clear, and “claro”, a verb meaning to make clear. These second two definitions might go a bit further towards explaining why the term “clarinet” was chosen.

It seems that when the clarinet was first invented, it was said to sound like a brighter, clearer and richer version of the chalumeau. Bright and rich tones were something that were associated more with brass instruments, in particular, the trumpet. Some people claimed that from a distance it did even sound quite similar in tone to a trumpet, and hence the name “clarinet”, literally meaning “little trumpet” came about. It is also believed that the clarinet was sometimes called the mock trumpet.

Which parts of the world use the term “clarinet”?

“Clarinet” is pretty much a universal term across Europe. It is only English speaking countries that spell as pronounce it exactly like this, however, it is clear looking at the word in other European languages that it is derived from the same word. This is not surprising for languages that derive from Latin, as this is the language the word “clarinet” is derived from. For example, the French translation of “clarinet” is “clarinette”, Italian is “clarinetto” and Spanish is “clarinete”.

Germanic languages have also adopted this etymology. For example, the German translation of clarinet is “Klarinette”. The Scandinavian languages are also Germanic, and have very similar translations – in Finnish, “klarinetti” and in Swedish, “klarinett”. Some Asian languages use the same origin, for example, in Japanese, the translation of “clarinet” is (phonetically) “kurarinetto”.

Has the term “clarinet” kept its original meaning?

The term “clarinet” was originally invented alongside the instrument, and so in that sense, its meaning remains unchanged. However, the fact that it means little trumpet is surprising to most people. We do not think of the clarinet as an instrument that is similar to the trumpet in any way. It has become an instrument in its own right and in that sense, the meaning of the word has in fact changed, as it has moved away from the link with the trumpet, which itself is no longer referred to as the clario.

Summary

To summarise, the term “clarinet” came into existence in the early eighteenth century, in Germany, alongside the invention of the instrument. Parallels were drawn with the sound quality of the trumpet of the time, called the clario, giving the clarinet the literally translated name “little trumpet”. Despite no longer being linked to the trumpet musically, the clarinet keeps its name in most countries around the world today.