cleave

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.
2. (transitive) To break a single crystal (such as a gemstone or semiconductor wafer) along one of its more symmetrical crystallographic planes (often by impact), forming facets on the resulting pieces.
3. (transitive) To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting.
4. (transitive) (chemistry) To split (a complex molecule) into simpler molecules.
5. (intransitive) To split.
6. (intransitive) Of a crystal, to split along a natural plane of division.

Noun

1. Flat, smooth surface produced by cleavage, or any similar surface produced by similar techniques, as in glass.
2. A cut (slash) or a cut location, either naturally or artificially.

Synonyms

split

adhere

rend

cling

break

crack

sever

stick

cut

divide

chop

pierce

cohere

hew

rive

slice

part

snap

splinter

rip

tear

fissure

burst

cut up

stick to

split up

slit

shorten

slash

segment

cling to

shave

glue

penetrate

shear

cut asunder

fist

✊

chase

dismember

catch

bog down

devide

dent

infect

indent

hold together

cut through

burst open

bind

hitch

Translations

spalten

fendre

hender

fendere

kloven

cliver

klieven

splijten

rajar

fender

rachar

spaccare

partir

doorklieven

fendir

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kliːv/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: cleven

Inherited from Old English: -

Cognate with Dutch: klieven

Cognate with German: klieben

Cognate with Swedish: klyva

Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk: kløyva

Cognate with Ancient Greek: γλύφω

Inherited from Old English: clifian

Inherited from Old English: clīfan

Cognate with Dutch: kleven

Cognate with German: kleben

In summary

From Middle English cleven, from the Old English strong verb clēofan (“to split, to separate”), from Proto-West Germanic *kleuban, from Proto-Germanic *kleubaną, from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- (“to cut, to slice”).
Doublet of clive. Cognate with Dutch klieven, dialectal German klieben, Swedish klyva, Norwegian Nynorsk kløyva; also Ancient Greek γλύφω (glúphō, “carve”).