Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “cloven” come from?

cloven (Middle English) comes from Old English clofen, from Proto-Germanic klubanaz, from Proto-Germanic kleubaną, from Proto-Indo-European glewbʰ- — to split.

cloven (Middle English): past participle of cleven; Split, cloven,...

Definitions

  1. past participle of cleven; Split, cloven,...

Ancestry of “cloven”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishclofen—
2Proto-Germanicklubanaz—
3Proto-Germanickleubanąto split, to cleave
4Proto-Indo-Europeanglewbʰ-to split
Every word from Proto-Indo-European glewbʰ- →