"C" Word Origins

clean

Old English

From Old English clǣne, originally meaning "pure" or "shining."

cleaner

Middle English

Inherited from Middle English clener, clenere, equivalent to clean + -er (agent noun suffix).

cleanliness

Origin

Formed from "cleanly" plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

cleanly

Middle English

From Middle English clenly, clenliche, clanly, from Old English clǣnlīċ (“cleanly, pure, excellent”), equivalent to clean + -ly.

cleanness

Origin

From Old English clǣnnes, corresponding to clean + -ness.

cleanse

Old English

From Old English clǣnsian, "to make clean," built directly on the root of "clean."

cleanser

Middle English

From Middle English clansere, clenser, clensere; equivalent to cleanse + -er.

cleanup

Origin

A deverbal from clean up.

clear

Latin

From Old French cler, from Latin clarus, "bright, clear, famous" — the same root as "clarity" and "declare."

clearer

Origin

From clear (verb) + -er.

clearheaded

Origin

From clear + headed.

clearing

Origin

From clear + -ing.

clearly

Middle English

From Middle English clerli, clerely, clerelych, cleerliche, clerliche. By surface analysis, clear + (adverbial) -ly.

clearness

Origin

From Middle English clernesse; equivalent to clear + -ness.

clearwater

Origin

A straightforward compound of "clear" and "water," also widely used as a place name across North America.

cleary

Origin

From clear + -y.

cleat

Origin

From Middle English clete, from Old English *clēat (“block, wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaut, from Proto-Germanic *klautaz (“firm lump”), from Proto-Indo-European *gelewd-, from *gley- (“to glue, stick together, form into a ball”). Cognate with Dutch kloot (“ball; testicle”) and German Kloß (“clump”). See also clay and clout.

cleavage

Origin

Built from the verb "cleave" (to split) plus the noun-forming suffix "-age" — the same pattern as "breakage" from "break."

cleave

Old English

From Old English cleofan, "to split" — confusingly, cleave also came to mean "stick to," from a completely different Old English verb (cleofian) that just happened to end up spelled the same way.

cleaver

Origin

Formed from "cleave" (to split) plus the agent suffix "-er" — literally "a thing that cleaves."

cleft

Old English

From Old English geclyft, related to "cleave" (to split) — a cleft is literally something that has been cloven.

clem

Old English

From Old English clemman, "to press or squeeze" — the sense narrowed over time to the pinched, hungry feeling of starvation.

clemence

Latin

From Old French clemence, from Latin clementia — the same root that gave English "clemency," which eventually replaced it in common use.

clemency

Latin

From Latin clementia, "mildness, mercy," related to clemens ("merciful").

Clemens

Late Latin

From Late Latin Clēmēns, meaning "merciful," the name of early saints and popes.

clement

Latin

From Latin clemens, "merciful, mild," the same root behind "clemency."

clementine

French · 1900

Named after the French missionary Clément Rodier, who is credited with first breeding the fruit in Algeria in the early 1900s.

clemmy

Origin

From Clementine + -y.

clench

Origin

From Middle English clenchen, from Old English clenċan (“to clinch; hold fast”), a variant of Old English clenġan (“to adhere; remain”), from Proto-Germanic *klangijaną, causative of *klinganą (“to stick; adhere”). Related to cling.

clenchpoop

Origin

From clench + poop.

Cleo

Greek

A shortened form of names like Cleopatra or Cleon, ultimately from Greek kleos, "glory."

Cleopatra

Greek

From the name of Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, from Greek Kleopatra, "glory of her father."

clepe

Origin

From Middle English clepen, clepien, from Old English cleopian, clipian (“to speak, cry out, call, summon, invoke, cry to, implore”), from Proto-Germanic *klipōną (“to ring, sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *gal- (“to sound”). Cognate with Old Frisian klippa, kleppa (“to ring”), Dutch kleppen (“to toll, chatter”), Middle Low German kleppen (“to strike, sound”), Middle Low German kleperen (“to rattle”).

clergy

Latin

From Old French clergie, "learned men," ultimately from Latin clericus, "one ordained for religious service."

clergyman

Origin

Formed from "clergy" plus "man."

clergyperson

Origin

From clergy + person.

cleric

Late Latin

From Late Latin clericus, ultimately from Greek klerikos, "of the clergy," related to kleros, "a lot" (as in casting lots), since clergy were originally chosen this way.

clerical

Late Latin

From Late Latin clericalis, from clericus — the same root as both "clerk" and "cleric," which explains the word's two very different modern meanings.

clerk

Old English

From Old English clerc, ultimately from Greek klerikos, "of the clergy" — in medieval times, clerks were often literate churchmen, since few others could read or write.

Cletus

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek anáklētos ("invoked").

cleve

Old English

From Old English cleofa, meaning a cleft, cave, or small chamber — ultimately from a root meaning "to split or cleave", the same root behind the word cleave.

Cleveland

Middle English

From place names in England (i.e. Cleveland, England), from Middle English Cleveland, Clyveland, from Middle English clive, cleve, cleove (“cliff”) + land, equivalent to cliff + land.

clever

Origin

From an East Anglian dialect word cliver, meaning "expert at seizing," likely linked to a root meaning "to grip" or "cling" — connected distantly to "cleave."

cleverly

Origin

From "clever" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

cleverness

Origin

From "clever" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ness."

CLI

English

An initialism of command-line interface.

cliché

French

From French cliché, the past participle of clicher, a printing term for making a stereotype plate; a phrase reused unchanged was likened to a fixed printing block.

click

Origin · 1500

An imitative word — it simply mimics the short, sharp sound itself, first recorded in the 1500s.