clair de lune

¹

[ klair dl-oon, duh loon ]

noun

1. a pale-green color.
2. a very pale blue color, tinged with lavender, used as a glaze on Chinese porcelain.
3. porcelain glazed with this color.

Clair de Lune

²

[ klair dl oon, duh loon; French kler duh lyn ]

noun

1. a work for the piano by Claude Debussy, third movement of the Suite bergamasque.

Word History and Origins

Origin of clair de lune¹

1875–80; < French: literally, moonlight

Example Sentences

“While Vietnam War activists protested outside, astronauts, politicians, and Hollywood stars dined on poached salmon, stuffed artichoke hearts, and French cheeses, followed by a sugary nod to Apollo 11’s lunar visit: globes of vanilla ice cream with raisins and marzipan, covered in meringue and lightly toasted to evoke lunar craters. The Clair de Lune, as it was called on the night’s menu, sat in a dish of blackberry sauce like a moon floating through the night sky,” Mr. Lin-Sommer wrote.

From Washington Times

The overfamiliarity of selections like “Clair de Lune” and “Aranjuez” is intentional, a nose-thumbing joke, as the inclusion of the title theme from “Star Wars” makes amusingly obvious.

From New York Times

The beloved author of “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,” he received a fifth Tony for lifetime achievement in 2019, a year before his death.

From Los Angeles Times

To honor him, he played one of Barenboim’s favorite pieces, Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” as an encore.

From New York Times

In Berlioz’s “Les Nuits d’Éte,” he lingered in a soft, exquisite falsetto throughout the song “Au cimetière: clair de lune,” but in the work’s opening “Villanelle” the move from forte to piano was accompanied by a gravelly transition.

From New York Times