noun
cleve
noun
1
An old word for a small room or chamber.
"The manuscript describes a monk retreating to his cleve to pray."
2
An old word for a simple cottage.
"A cleve stood at the edge of the moor, long since fallen to ruin."
3
An old word for a cliff or steep hillside.
"The path climbed the cleve above the river before dropping back to the valley floor."
How to Use Cleve
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn old, mostly dialect word that could mean a small room, a cottage, or a hillside/cliff depending on region.
Memory tip
You will meet this mostly in place names (like Cleve or Cleveland) rather than in modern speech.
Trace the full origin ↓Word Forms
cleves plural
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The manuscript describes a monk retreating to his _____ to pray.
Etymology
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.