Etymograph

English

cleeve

Cleeve comes from Irish cliabh ‘basket’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- ‘to lean’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱley-1‘to lean’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*kleibos1reconstructed
  3. Old Irishc. 600–900clíab1
  4. Irishc. 1200–presentcliabh2‘basket’
  5. Englishtodaycleeve2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Irish cliabh
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English cleeve

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱley-Wiktionary, Irish cliabh‘to lean’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*kleibosWiktionary, Irish cliabhreconstructed
  3. Old Irishc. 600–900clíabWiktionary, Irish cliabh
  4. Irishc. 1200–presentcliabhWiktionary, English cleeve‘basket’
  5. EnglishtodaycleeveWiktionary, English cleeve

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- ‘to lean’

law, low, climate, decline, ladder, lean, lid, climax, inclination, eyelid, incline, clinician, cline, proclivity, declination, declension, 25 more

Today it means

noun A large wickerwork basket for carrying produce or turf.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cleeve”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Irish cliabh. 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 *ḱley- / cleeve

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