English
reclude
Reclude comes from Latin reclūdere ‘to open’, from claudō ‘to close’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘key, hook, nail’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-1‘key, hook, nail’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudō1‘to close’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudō2as claudere‘to close’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreclūdere2‘to open’
- Englishearliest quotation 1911reclude2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin claudo
- 2 Wiktionary, English reclude
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1911, Max Beerbohm: “And, surely, no woman who knows that of herself…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-Wiktionary, Latin claudo‘key, hook, nail’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudōWiktionary, Latin claudo‘to close’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudōWiktionary, English recludeas claudere‘to close’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreclūdereWiktionary, English reclude‘to open’
- Englishearliest quotation 1911recludeWiktionary, English reclude. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1911, Max Beerbohm: “And, surely, no woman who knows that of herself…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘key, hook, nail’
include, cataract, conclave, subclavian, 28 more
through Proto-Italic *klaudō ‘to close’
closet, disclose, enclose, inclusiveness, 26 more
through Latin claudō ‘to close’
close, exclusive, conclusion, clause, closure, inclusion, inclusive, conclude, exclude, cloister, claustrophobia, sluice, occlusion, cloture, 31 more
Today it means
verb To open; to unblock.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “reclude”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin claudo. 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 *kleh₂w- / reclude