• cleave •
Printable Version Pronunciation: kleev • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: 1. To split asunder or into two pieces. 2. To cling or adhere to firmly.
Notes: Today's Good Word seems be an 'contronym', a word with two opposing meanings, like sanction "to approve" and "punish". Today, however, you are receiving not one but two different verbs—for the same low price of one. That we are dealing with two words is clear from the forms of these words. (1) The past tense of cleave "to cling or adhere to firmly" is cleaved or clove and the past participle is cleaved. (2) The past tense of cleave "to split asunder" is either cleft or clove while the past participle is cleft (as in cleft palate) or cloven (as in cloven hoof).
In Play: The meanings of these two verbs are so far apart, it is easy to use them in one sentence with opposite meanings: "She clave to him so tightly it required a crowbar to cleave them apart." The household uses of these words are copious, it is difficult to understand why they are falling into disuse: "Woody, would you please cleave us some more firewood before the guests arrive."
Word History: The first Good Word we get today is from Old English clifian akin to German kleben "to stick." The second is from Old English cleofan related to Swedish klyva "to split," Latin glubere "to peel," and Greek glyphein "to carve"—as in hieroglyphics "sacred carvings".
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