Etymograph

English

clean

Clean comes from Old English clāne ‘clean’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *klainī.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*klainī1‘dainty’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150clāne1‘clean’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500clene1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611clean1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English clean
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*klainīWiktionary, English clean‘dainty’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150clāneWiktionary, English clean‘clean’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cleneWiktionary, English clean
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611cleanWiktionary, English clean. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with clean, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘to gleam’

  • children ← ċildru ← ċild ← *kilþ ← *kelþaz
  • child ← ċild ← *kilþ ← *kelþaz ← *ǵelt-
  • cold ← cald
  • globe ← globus
  • chill ← chele ← ċele ← chile ← ċiele
  • cloud ← clūd ← *klūt ← *klūtaz
  • gel ← gelatin ← gélatine ← gelatina ← gelare
  • jelly ← gele ← gelee ← gelāta ← gelo
  • cluster ← *klas-
  • colt ← *kultaz ← *gelt-
  • gelatin ← gélatine ← gelatina ← gelare ← gelāre
  • clout ← clūt ← *klūt ← *klūtaz ← *gelewdos

57 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “clean”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *klainī / clean