cleve

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*glewbʰ-“to cut, cleave, split, divide”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*klebô“chamber, cell”
3. Old English · inherited fromcleofa“that which is cloven, a cleft, chasm, cave, den, lair, cell, chamber, cellar, apartment”
4. Middle English · inherited fromcleve
5. English todaycleve

From Middle English cleve, from Old English cleofa (“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.

Words from the same roots