klug

Meaning

intelligent, prudent, wise, smart, clever

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kluːk/

Etymology

From Middle High German kluoc, which was borrowed via the Lower Rhineland from Middle Low German klōk and Middle Dutch cloec, from Proto-Germanic *klōkaz. Compare Old Norse klókr, and dialectal Dutch kloek.
In Upper German dialects, the final [k]-sound after a long vowel was naturally interpreted as underlying /ɡ/. This form then also spread back northwards, though some northern Central German dialects (like Ripuarian) retained /k/, as did Low German.