Clarissan

English

Etymology

From Clarissa +‎ -an.

Adjective

Clarissan (not comparable)

1. (Catholicism) Of or relating to the Order of Saint Clare.
   • 2005, Caroline A. Bruzelius, “Hearing Is Believing: Clarissan Architecture, c. 1213–1340”, in Medieval Religion: New Approaches, page 249:

     Strict enclosure presented additional complexities when the convent churches were open to the lay public, as was the case in the Clarissan order ("Poor Clares").

   • 2021, William Stargard, “Space and the Meaning of Distance in Bernardo Vittone's Architecture”, in Hemispheres and Stratospheres, page 46:

     There are two commissions for the Clarissan order (or Poor Clares), that warrant attention, the convent church at Santa Chiara in Bra and the convent church at Santa Chiara in Turin.

2. Of or relating to someone named Clarissa.
   • 2005, Martha J. Koehler, Models of Reading: Paragons and Parasites in Richardson, Burney, and Laclos, page 138:

     The image of the crowds of fallen women can be seen as both the diametrical opposite to and the necessary contrast or "negative space" for the emergence of the unique woman, the paragon. Obviously, the "luster" of the Clarissan diamond is best perceived against these "common stones", to paraphrase Johnson.

   • 2008, Robert L. Chibka, “Henry Fielding, Mentalist”, in Henry Fielding in Our Time‎^[1], page 93:

     This sort of reading identifies the whole novel with a naïve Clarissan view...

Synonyms

• Clarissian, Clarissine, Clarist

Noun

Clarissan (plural Clarissans)

1. (Catholicism) Synonym of Poor Clare: a nun of the Order of Saint Clare.
   • 1865, John Malcolm Forbes Ludlow, Women's Work in the Church, page 130:

     The rule of the Clarissans, who take their name from St Clara, was very strict.