cleft

Meaning

Noun

1. An opening, fissure, or V-shaped indentation made by or as if by splitting.
2. A piece made by splitting.
3. A disease of horses; a crack on the band of the pastern.

Verb

To syntactically separate a prominent constituent from the rest of the clause that concerns it, such as threat in "The threat which I saw but which he didn't see, was his downfall."

Verb

simple past and past participle of cleave

Adj

split, divided, or partially divided into two.

cleave

• Verb
• Noun

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Synonyms

fissure

crack

crevice

split

rift

rent

gap

slit

hole

🕳️

cloven

opening

crevasse

breach

chap

chasm

chink

divided

fracture

scissure

severed

rip

groove

cleavage

slot

broken

tear

torn

parted

interstice

dissected

hewn

cleaved

joint

leak

notch

perforation

placket

puncture

clack

chappy

ripped

rupture

fish mouthing

scratch

short

sliced

chapped

vein

vent

Chink

Translations

Spalte

fissure

fente

Riss

fessura

crepa

fenditura

grieta

crevasse

fissura

yarık

barst

fenda

hendidura

Kluft

Pronounced as (IPA)

/klɛft/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: clift

Inherited from Old English: ġeclyft

Cognate with Dutch: klucht

Cognate with Swedish: klyft

Cognate with German: Kluft

In summary

From Middle English clift, from Old English ġeclyft, from Proto-West Germanic *klufti, from Proto-Germanic *kluftiz, equivalent to cleave + -t (“-th”). Compare Dutch klucht (“coarse comedy”), Swedish klyft (“cave, den”), German Kluft. See cleave.