clever

clever · adjective¹

1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*klibēn
2. Old Saxon · derived fromklibōn
3. Middle Low German · derived fromklever
4. Norwegian · derived fromklover“ready, skillful”
5. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*kleuban“to cleave, split”
6. Old English · inherited from*clifer
7. Middle English · inherited fromcliver“tenacious”
8. English todayclever

From East Anglian dialectal English cliver (“expert at seizing”), from Middle English cliver (“tenacious”). * perhaps from Old English *clifer, clibbor (“clinging”); * or perhaps from Dutch, Low German, or East/Saterland Frisian (compare kluftich (“clever, prudent”), probably derived from Proto-West Germanic *kleuban (“to cleave, split”)); * or dialectal Norwegian klover (“ready, skillful”), itself borrowed from Middle Low German klever, related to kleven (“to stick”), from Old Saxon klibōn, from Proto-West Germanic *klibēn, related to the Old English word above; * possibly influenced by Old English clifer (“claw, hand”) (compare clawian (“to claw”)). Related to cleave. Perhaps influenced by Welsh celfydd (“talented, dexterous, expert”). Compare typologically Czech chytrý, Russian хи́трый (xítryj) (akin to хвата́ть (xvatátʹ)), also note схва́тывать на лету́ (sxvátyvatʹ na letú).

Clever · proper noun²

* Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ)

Words from the same roots