Eau Claire

/oʊ ˈklɛɚ/

proper noun

A city, the county seat of Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, United States; an on the in the Eau Claire River. Named after the river.

OriginFrench Eau Claire →
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A number of places in the United States
    1. A city, the county seat of Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, United States; an on the in the Eau Claire River. Named after the river.

      He lived […] with a guy named Mike who was from near Eau Claire.

      2021, Brandon Taylor, “Mass”, in Filthy Animals, Daunt Books Originals, page 157
    2. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Eau Claire River: A tributary of the Chippewa River in Wisconsin, United States. Named for its waters.
    3. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Eau Claire County: A county of Wisconsin, United States. County seat: Eau Claire. Named after the city, in turn named after the river, named for its waters.
  2. A number of places in Canada
    1. A neighbourhood of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Named after the Eau Claire Sawmill from Wisconsin that opened at that location, itself named after the city and river in Wisconsin where the sawmill was founded.

Origin

  1. FrenchEau Claire
  2. EnglishEau Claire

Borrowed from French Eau Claire. From French eau (“water”) claire (“clear”) Literally, “clear water”. Equivalent of the English term Clearwater.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Eau Claire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Eau%20Claire

MLA

“Eau Claire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Eau%20Claire. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Eau Claire,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Eau%20Claire.

Source: Eau Claire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.