Etymograph

English

cleave

Cleave comes from Middle English cleven ‘to slice at’, from Proto-West Germanic *kleuban ‘to split, to cleave’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- ‘to cut, to slice’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*glewbʰ-1‘to cut, to slice’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kleubaną1‘to split, to cleave’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kleuban1‘to split, to cleave’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150clēofan2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cleven1‘to slice at’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602cleave1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cleave
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English cleven
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*glewbʰ-Wiktionary, English cleave‘to cut, to slice’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kleubanąWiktionary, English cleave‘to split, to cleave’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kleubanWiktionary, English cleave‘to split, to cleave’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150clēofanWiktionary, Middle English cleven
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500clevenWiktionary, English cleave‘to slice at’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602cleaveWiktionary, English cleave. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- ‘to cut, to slice’

clapper, glyph, cleve, 12 more

through Proto-Germanic *kleubaną ‘to split, to cleave’

clive, cleft, 1 more

through Proto-West Germanic *kleuban ‘to split, to cleave’

clove, 1 more

Today it means

verb To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cleave”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English cleven. 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-Indo-European *glewbʰ- / cleave

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