The story
- German · derived fromKlee“clover”
- Proto-Germanic · derived from*klibą“cliff”
- Old High German · derived fromCleve
- French · borrowed fromClèves
- English todayCleves
From French Clèves, from Old High German Cleve, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *klibą (“cliff”). Cognate with English cliff. There is no connection with German Klee (“clover”), the clovers in the city's coat of arms being an example of canting arms.
Words from the same roots
Old High GermanCleve all →
Kleve
Proto-Germanic*klibą all →
cliffKleveKlipp
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.