Etymology Explorer › Old Norse

Where does “klyfja” come from?

klyfja (Old Norse) comes from Old Norse kljúfa, from Proto-Germanic kleubaną, from Proto-Indo-European glewbʰ- — to split.

Ancestry of “klyfja”, step by step

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