The story
- Proto-Germanic*klibą
- Proto-West Germanic*klib
- Old Englishclif
- Middle Englishclive, cleve, cleove
- Proto-Indo-European*lendʰ-
- Proto-Germanic*landą
- Proto-West Germanic*land
- Old Englishland
- Middle Englishland
- Middle EnglishCleveland, Clyveland
- English todayCleveland
From place names in England (i.e. Cleveland, England), from Middle English Cleveland, Clyveland, from Middle English clive, cleve, cleove (“cliff”) + land, equivalent to cliff + land.
Words from the same roots
Middle Englishclive all →
clive
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.