yclept

English

Alternative forms

• ycleped

Etymology

Representing Old English ġeclypod. y- from Germanic ge-, clept from clepe.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪˈklɛpt/
• Rhymes: -ɛpt

Adjective

yclept (not comparable)

1. (archaic, poetic) Called, named.
   • 1645, John Milton, L'Allegro, line 13,

     But come, thou Goddess fair and free/ In heaven yclept Euphrosyne […]

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, page 410,

     those sounds which […] issue from the mouths, and sometimes from the nostrils, of those fair river nymphs, ycleped of old the Naïades […]

   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses, Dover Publications (2002), ISBN 978-0-486-42444-6, page 369,

     And there came against the place as they stood a young learning knight yclept Dixon.

   • 2001, Glen David Gold, Carter Beats the Devil, Hyperion (2002), ISBN 978-0-7868-8632-6, page 174,

     World traveling sorcerer supreme Charles Carter, yclept Carter the Mysterious, has made a startling discovery that makes the news from Europe seem mild indeed.

Verb

yclept

1. Past participle of clepe

Usage notes

• While clepe is obsolete, yclept is still occasionally used for humorous or archaic effect; as in the set phrase aptly yclept, which is an idiomatic expression.
• A holdover from Middle English, yclept is one of the few English words where 'y' figures as a vowel at the beginning of a word. Others include yttrium and yngling.