Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Burdock or agrimony.
  • verb intransitive To climb; ascend.
  • verb transitive To split; separate; cleave; chop.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old English clife ("clifers (cleavers), burdock"). Cognate with Middle Dutch kleve, klijve ("burdock"), Middle Low German klive ("burdock").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English cliven, from Old English clīfan ("to cleave, adhere, stick"), from Proto-Germanic *klībanan (“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").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English cliven, from Old Norse klyfja, klufða ("to split, chop, cleave"), from Proto-Germanic *kleubanan (“to split, pick”), from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- (“to cut, carve, peel”). Cognate with Old English clēofan ("to cleave, split, separate"). More at cleave.

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