Wiktionary

clove

English edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

 
Cloves (1).

From Middle English clove, an alteration of earlier clowe, borrowed from the first component of Old French clou (de girofle) (modern French clou de girofle), from Latin clāvus (“nail”) for its shape. Also see clāva (“knotty branch, club”). Doublet of clou and clavus.

Noun edit

clove (countable and uncountable, plural cloves)

  1. (uncountable, countable) A very pungent aromatic spice, the unexpanded flower bud of the clove tree.
  2. (countable) A clove tree, of the species Syzygium aromaticum (syn. Caryophyllus aromaticus), native to the Moluccas (Indonesian islands), which produces the spice.
  3. (countable) An old English measure of weight, containing 7 pounds (3.2 kg), i.e. half a stone.
    • 1843, The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, page 202:
      Seven pounds make a clove, 2 cloves a stone, 2 stone a tod 6+1⁄2 tods a wey, 2 weys a sack, 12 sacks a last. The 'Pathway' points out the etymology of the word cloves; it calls them ' claves or nails.' It is to be observed here that a sack is 13 tods, and a tod 28 pounds, so that the sack is 364 pounds.
    • 1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 1, page 169:
      By a statute of 9 Hen. VI. it was ordained that the wey of cheese should contain 32 cloves of 7 lbs. each, i.e. 224 lbs., or 2 cwts.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit

Etymology 2 edit

 
Peeled cloves of garlic

From Middle English clove, from Old English clufu, from Proto-West Germanic *klubu, from Proto-Germanic *klubō, related to clēofan (“to cleave, split”), hence with the verbal etymology hereafter.

Noun edit

clove (plural cloves)

  2. (horticulture, cooking) One of the small bulbs formed in the axils of the scales of a large bulb.
    clove of garlic, garlic clove, clove of a sea-onion, clove of shallot, cloves of bulbs
Translations edit

Etymology 3 edit

Verb edit

clove

  1. simple past of cleave
Related terms edit

Etymology 4 edit

Borrowed from Dutch kloof.

Noun edit

clove (plural cloves)

  1. (geography) A narrow valley with steep sides, used in areas of North America first settled by the Dutch
Usage notes edit

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Middle English edit

Etymology 1 edit

Inherited from Old English clufu, from Proto-West Germanic *klubu, from Proto-Germanic *klubō, related to cleven.

Alternative forms edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

clove (plural cloves)

  1. clove (bulb of garlic)
Descendants edit
  • English: clove
  • Scots: clow
References edit

Etymology 2 edit

From Old French clou de girofle.

Noun edit

clove

  1. Alternative form of clowe

Etymology 3 edit

From Old English clofen, past participle of clēofan.

Noun edit

clove

  1. Alternative form of cloven

Etymology 4 edit

From Old English clēaf, 1st- and 3rd- person simple past singular of clēofan, with the vowel from the past participle.

Verb edit

clove

  1. simple past singular of cleven (“to split”)
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