Etymology

clover

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Today it means: A plant of the genus Trifolium with leaves usually divided into three (rarely four) leaflets and with white or red flowers. Full definition →

Middle English clovere ← Old English clāfre ← Proto-West Germanic *klaibrā
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*klaibrā
  2. Old English · inherited fromclāfre
  3. Middle English · inherited fromclovere
  4. English todayclover

From Middle English clovere, claver, from Old English clāfre, earlier clǣfre, from Proto-West Germanic *klaibrā. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Kleeuwer, Low German Klaver, Klever, Dutch klaver, all “clover”. More distantly also related with German Klee.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.