Etymology

cleam

C3L1E1A1M3

Today it means: To smear, rub on, or anoint; to bedaub with an oily or sticky substance. Full definition →

Middle English clemen ← Old English clǣman ← Proto-West Germanic *klaimijan
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gley-“to stick, glue”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*klaimijaną“to smear with clay, mortar”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*klaimijan
  4. Old English · inherited fromclǣman“to smear, anoint”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromclemen
  6. English todaycleam

From Middle English clemen, from Old English clǣman (“to smear, anoint”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaimijan, from Proto-Germanic *klaimijaną (“to smear with clay, mortar”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to stick, glue”).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishclǣman all →

clammy

Proto-Germanic*klaimijaną all →

gleam

Proto-Indo-European*gley- all →

cleanclimbclotheclead

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.