Etymograph

English

cleanness

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

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*klainī1‘clean’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150clǣne2‘clean’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150clǣnnes3
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1485cleanness3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English clæne
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English clænnes
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English cleanness
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, vj: “Certes sayd the good man that is sothe /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*klainīWiktionary, Old English clæne‘clean’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150clǣneWiktionary, Old English clænnes‘clean’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150clǣnnesWiktionary, English cleanness
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1485cleannessWiktionary, English cleanness. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, vj: “Certes sayd the good man that is sothe /…”

Formed from clean + -ness

Proto-West Germanic *klainī ‘dainty’

Old English clāne ‘clean’

Middle English clene

English clean

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *klainī

Today it means

noun Moral purity; innocence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cleanness”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English clæne, Old English clænnes. 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 / cleanness

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