Meanings
clive1
present singular third person clives · participle present cliving · past clived · past clove · participle past clived · participle past clove · participle past cliven
clive2
clive3
present singular third person clives · participle present cliving · participle past clived · past clived
- transitiveTo split; separate; cleave; chop.
After 'frosting' the stone may be 'clived' or split along the bedding planes. Once clived, the thin slabs are dressed for use and sold as Collyweston Slates, for use as tilestones.
1990, John Ashurst, Francis G. Dimes, Conservation of building and decorative stone: Volume 11 more example
IL-1β presents the peculiarity of being produced in the form of a biologically inactive precursor, known as proIL-1β, that needs to be clived at an aspartate residue by a specific enzyme, named interleukin-1β converting enzyme (ICE) or [...]
2007, Robert Ader, Psychoneuroimmunology
Clive4
- A topographic surname from Old English - someone who lived near a cliff (Old English clif).
- A male given name transferred from the surname, popular in Britain in the mid-twentieth century.
"I suppose you," she said, "were named for General Clive." "I was. And my father was named for General Brock."
1949, Mazo de la Roche, Mary Wakefield, Dundurn Press, published 2009, →ISBN, page 132 - A village in Lacombe County, Alberta, Canada.
- A city in Dallas County and Polk County, Iowa, United States.
- A town on the Clive River in Hawke's Bay region, New Zealand.
- An eastern suburb of Winsford, Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire, England (OS grid ref SJ6766).
- A village and civil parish in north Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ5124).
Origin
clive · verb
- Proto-Indo-European*gleybʰ-“to lubricate, stick”
- Proto-Germanic*klībaną“to glue, stick”
- Proto-West Germanic*klīban
- Old Englishclīfan“to cleave, adhere, stick”
- Middle Englishcliven
- Englishclive
From Middle English cliven, from Old English clīfan (“to cleave, adhere, stick”), from Proto-West Germanic *klīban, from Proto-Germanic *klībaną (“to glue, stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *gleybʰ- (“to lubricate, stick”). Cognate with Dutch kleven (“to adhere, stick”), German kleben (“to adhere, stick”), Swedish kliva (“to climb, stalk”), Icelandic klífa (“to climb, ascend”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →clive · noun
- Proto-West Germanic*klībā
- Old Englishclīfe“clifers (cleavers), burdock”
- Middle English*clive
- Englishclive
From Middle English *clive (in compound: Middle English garclive), from Old English clīfe (“clifers (cleavers), burdock”), from Proto-West Germanic *klībā. Cognate with Middle Dutch kleve, klijve (“burdock”), Middle Low German klive (“burdock”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →clive · verb
- Proto-Indo-European*glewbʰ-“to cut, carve, peel”
- Proto-Germanic*kleubaną“to split, pick”
- Old Norseklyfja
- Middle Englishcliven
- Englishclive
From Middle English cliven, from Old Norse klyfja, klufða (“to split, chop, cleave”), from Proto-Germanic *kleubaną (“to split, pick”), from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- (“to cut, carve, peel”). Cognate with Old English clēofan (“to cleave, split, separate”). Doublet of cleave.
More words from Middle English, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with clive
Anagrams
Cite this entry
clive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clive
“clive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clive. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clive.
Source: clive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.