clopen

clo·pen
C3L1O1P3E1N1
UK/ˈkləʊ̯.pən/Canada, US/ˈkloʊ̯.pən/Australia, New Zealand/ˈklɐʉ̯.pən/Australia/ˈkləʉ̯.pən/

adjective

Both open and closed.

“James is on vacation, so I've got to do a clopen this weekend to cover his shifts.”

Scrabble 10

Meanings

adjectiveclopen (not comparable)
  1. not comparablemathematicsBoth open and closed.

    FACT 1. Disjoint closed subsets of #92;mathbb#123;N#125;#92;mathbb#123;N#125; may be separated by disjoint clopen sets.

    1999, S. J. Dilworth, “On the extensibility of certain homeomorphisms and linear isometries”, in Krzysztof Jarosz, editor, Function Spaces: Proceedings of the Third Conference on Function Spaces (Contemporary Mathematics), volume 232, American Mathematical Society, page 124
    2 more examples

    A subset of a metric space is clopen iff it is both closed and open. A metric space is called zero-dimensional iff there is a base for the open sets consisting of clopen sets.

    1990, Gerald A Edgar, Measure, Topology, and Fractal Geometry, page 80

    Theorem 3. 1) Every two disjoint closed sets in a totally disconnected compact space #92;mathfrak#123;Q#125; are separated by disjoint clopen sets. 2) Every algebra of clopen sets which separates the points of a totally disconnected compact space contains all clopen sets.

    2002, D. A. Vladimirov, Boolean Algebras in Analysis, page 133
nounclopen (plural clopens)

plural clopens

  1. A pair of work shifts in which a worker works a closing shift one day and then works an opening shift the following day.

    James is on vacation, so I've got to do a clopen this weekend to cover his shifts.

Origin

  1. Englishclosed
  2. Proto-Indo-European*upó
  3. Proto-Germanic*ub
  4. Proto-Germanic*upp
  5. Proto-Germanic*upanaz
  6. Proto-West Germanic*opan
  7. Old Englishopen
  8. Middle Englishopen
  9. Englishopen
  10. Englishclopen

Blend of closed + open.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with clopen

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Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

clopen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clopen

MLA

“clopen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clopen. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clopen,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clopen.

Source: clopen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.