claret [LME] The Old French term vin claret ‘clear wine’ was originally applied to a light red or yellowish wine, as distinct from either a red or white wine. Claret was used in English with this meaning until around 1600, when people started using the word to talk about red wines generally. Nowadays the term refers particularly to the red wines imported from Bordeaux. In books or films about London gangsters you might come across claret used as a slang term for ‘blood’. This goes back at least as far as 1604, and was originally boxing slang.