clod

The story

1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kloddō“lump, clod”
2. Old English · inherited from*clod
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*klott“mass, ball, clump”
4. Old English · inherited fromclot
5. Middle English · inherited fromclod
6. English todayclod

From Middle English clod, a late by-form of clot, from Old English clot, from Proto-West Germanic *klott (“mass, ball, clump”). Compare clot and cloud; cognate to kloot (“clod”). Alternatively, Middle English clod may derive from Old English *clod (found in Old English clodhamer (“a kind of thrush”) and Clodhangra (a placename)), from Proto-West Germanic *kloddō (“lump, clod”), from *gel- (“to ball up, become lumpy”), related to West Frisian klodde (“clod, lump”), Dutch klodde (“lump, blob”).

Words from the same roots