Cloven


[kloh-vuh n] /ˈkloʊ vən/

verb
1.
a past participle of 2 .
adjective
2.
; split; divided:
Goats have cloven hoofs.
[kleev] /kliv/
verb (used without object), cleaved or (Archaic) clave; cleaved; cleaving.
1.
to adhere closely; stick; cling (usually followed by to).
2.
to remain faithful (usually followed by to):
to cleave to one’s principles in spite of persecution.
[kleev] /kliv/
verb (used with object), cleft or cleaved or clove, cleft or cleaved or cloven, cleaving.
1.
to split or divide by or as if by a cutting blow, especially along a natural line of division, as the grain of wood.
2.
to make by or as if by cutting:
to cleave a path through the wilderness.
3.
to penetrate or pass through (air, water, etc.):
The bow of the boat cleaved the water cleanly.
4.
to cut off; sever:
to cleave a branch from a tree.
verb (used without object), cleft or cleaved or clove, cleft or cleaved or cloven, cleaving.
5.
to part or split, especially along a natural line of division.
6.
to penetrate or advance by or as if by cutting (usually followed by through).
/ˈkləʊvən/
verb
1.
a past participle of cleave1
adjective
2.
split; cleft; divided
/kliːv/
verb cleaves, cleaving, cleft, cleaved, clove, cleft, cleaved, cloven
1.
to split or cause to split, esp along a natural weakness
2.
(transitive) to make by or as if by cutting: to cleave a path
3.
when intr, foll by through. to penetrate or traverse
/kliːv/
verb
1.
(intransitive) foll by to. to cling or adhere
adj.

“divided, split,” Old English clofen, past participle adjective from cleave (v.1).
v.

“to split,” Old English cleofan, cleven, cliven “to split, separate” (class II strong verb, past tense cleaf, past participle clofen), from Proto-Germanic *kleubanan (cf. Old Saxon klioban, Old Norse kljufa, Danish klöve, Dutch kloven, Old High German klioban, German klieben “to cleave, split”), from PIE root *gleubh- “to cut, slice” (see glyph).

Past tense form clave is recorded in Northern writers from 14c. and was used with both verbs (see cleave (v.2)), apparently by analogy with other Middle English strong verbs. Clave was common to c.1600 and still alive at the time of the KJV; weak past tense cleaved for this verb also emerged in 14c.; cleft is still later. The past participle cloven survives, though mostly in compounds.

“to adhere,” Middle English cleven, clevien, cliven, from Old English clifian, cleofian, from West Germanic *klibajanan (cf. Old Saxon klibon, Old High German kliban, Dutch kleven, Old High German kleben, German kleben “to stick, cling, adhere”), from PIE *gloi- “to stick” (see clay). The confusion was less in Old English when cleave (v.1) was a class 2 strong verb; but it has grown since cleave (v.1) weakened, which may be why both are largely superseded by stick (v.) and split (v.).

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    [kloh-vuh n-hoo ft, -hooft] /ˈkloʊ vənˈhʊft, -ˈhuft/ adjective 1. having split hoofs, once assumed to represent the halves of a single undivided hoof, as in cattle. 2. devilish; Satanic.

  • Cloven-footed

    [kloh-vuh n-hoo ft, -hooft] /ˈkloʊ vənˈhʊft, -ˈhuft/ adjective 1. having split hoofs, once assumed to represent the halves of a single undivided hoof, as in cattle. 2. devilish; Satanic.

  • Cloven-hoof

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    [kloh-vuh n-hoo ft, -hooft] /ˈkloʊ vənˈhʊft, -ˈhuft/ adjective 1. having split hoofs, once assumed to represent the halves of a single undivided hoof, as in cattle. 2. devilish; Satanic.

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