cloven
English
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -əʊvən
- Rhymes: -uːvən
Verb
cloven
- past participle of cleave
Adjective
cloven
- Split, sundered, or divided.
- 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II Scene 2
- CALIBAN:
- [...]
- His spirits hear me,
- And yet I needs must curse. But they'll nor pinch
- Fright me with urchin-shows, pitch me i'th' mire,
- Nor lead me like a firebrand in the dark
- Out of my way, unless he bid 'em; but
- For every trifle are they set upon me,
- Sometimes like apes that now and chatter at me,
- And after bite me; then like hedgehogs, which
- Lie tumbling in my barefoot way, and mount
- Their pricks at my footfall; sometimes am I
- All wound with adders, who with their cloven tongues
- Do hiss me into madness—
- [...]
- 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II Scene 2
Derived terms
- cloven foot, cloven-footed
- cloven hoof, cloven-hoofed
Translations
split or divided
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Middle English
Alternative forms
- clove, clofenn, clovyn, clofen, i-clove, y clove
Etymology
From Old English clofen, ġeclofen, past participle of clēofan, from Proto-Germanic *klubanaz, past participle of *kleubaną.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈklɔːvən/, /ˈklɔːvə/, /iˈklɔːvə/, /əˈklɔːvə/
Verb
cloven
- past participle of cleven (“to split”)
Descendants
- English: cloven
- Scots: clowen, cloen
References
- “clōve(n (ppl.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-31.
Adjective
cloven
- Split, cloven, seperated, divided (used of anatomical features)
Descendants
- English: cloven
- Scots: clowen, cloen
References
- “clōve(n (ppl.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-31.