cleve

See also: Cleve

English

Etymology

From Middle English cleve, from Old English clēofa, clēafa (“that which is cloven, a cleft, chasm, cave, den, lair, cell, chamber, cellar, apartment”), from Proto-Germanic *klebô (“chamber, cell”), from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- (“to cut, cleave, split, divide”). Cognate with Old Norse klefi (“a closet, sleeping closet, bedroom”) (whence Icelandic klefi (“cell, compartment”)). Related to cleave.

Noun

cleve (plural cleves)

1. (now chiefly dialectal) A room; chamber.
2. (now chiefly dialectal) A cottage.
3. (obsolete) A cliff or hillside.

Middle Dutch

Alternative forms

• cleue

Etymology

Related to clef (“cliff”); the town is one of the highest points in the region.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klɛːvə/

Noun

clēve ?

1. Cleves (a city in modern Germany)
2. Cleves (a duchy and county)
   • 1432 CE, Brabantsche Yeesten book VI:

     na dat si weduwe bleven was van den greve van cleve haren man

     After she was left widow of the count of Cleves, her husband

Descendants

• Dutch: Kleef
• Limburgish: Kleef
• ⇒ Middle High German: Cleve (influenced)
  • German: Kleve

Further reading

• “cleve”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English clēofa, from Proto-Germanic *klebô.

Alternative forms

• kleve

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkleːv(ə)/, /ˈklɛːv(ə)/

Noun

cleve (plural cleves)

1. (rare) An abode or home; where someone resides.
2. (rare) A granary.

Descendants

• English: cleve

References

• “clēve, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 31 July 2018.

Etymology 2

Verb

cleve

1. alternative form of cleven (“to split”)

Etymology 3

Verb

cleve

1. alternative form of cleven (“to stick”)