cloven

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊvən
• Rhymes: -uːvən

Verb

cloven

1. past participle of cleave

Adjective

cloven

1. Split, sundered, or divided.
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

     All wound with adders, who with their cloven tongues
     Do hiss me into madness—[...]

Derived terms

• cloven foot, cloven-footed, show the cloven foot
• cloven hoof, cloven-hoofed, cloven-hooved
• clovenness
• uncloven

 

Translations

split or divided

• Bulgarian: разцепен (bg) (razcepen), раздвоен (bg) (razdvoen)
• French: fendu (fr)
• Greek:

  Ancient: σχιστός (skhistós), δίκροος (díkroos)

• Latin: bifidus, fissus
• Norwegian: kløyvd
• Russian: раздвоенный (ru) (razdvojennyj)
• Spanish: rajado (es)
• Swedish: kluven (sv)
• Turkish: ayrık (tr), çatlak (tr), yarık (tr)

Middle Dutch

Etymology

Causative form of clieven, from Old Dutch *clievan, from Proto-Germanic *kleubaną. Related to Middle English cleven and Middle High German klieben.

Verb

cloven

1. (transitive) to cleave, to cut

   Synonyms: schiden, clieven

   • c. 1475, Des Heiligen Cyrilli Apologi morales:

     Waerom is dijn claeuwe geclooft?

     Why is your claw cleaved?

2. (transitive) to split

   Synonyms: spliten, *splissen, clieven

3. (transitive) to separate

   Synonyms: scheiden, verdelen

4. (transitive) to isolate

   Synonym: sonderen

5. (intransitive) to break, to become split

   Synonyms: clieven, breken

Derived terms

• cloofhamer

Descendants

• Dutch: kloven
  • Afrikaans: kloof, klowe

Further reading

• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “cloven”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN
• “cloven”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000

Middle English

Alternative forms

• clove, clofenn, clovyn, clofen, i-clove, y clove

Etymology

From Old English clofen, ġeclofen, past participle of clēofan, from Proto-Germanic *klubanaz, past participle of *kleubaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklɔːvən/, /ˈklɔːvə/, /iˈklɔːvə/, /əˈklɔːvə/

Verb

cloven

1. past participle of cleven (“to split”)

Descendants

• English: cloven
• Scots: clowen, cloen

References

• “clōve(n, ppl.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-31.

Adjective

cloven

1. Split, cloven, separated, divided (used of anatomical features)

Descendants

• English: cloven
• Scots: clowen, cloen

References

• “clōve(n, ppl.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-31.