cloven hoof

English

Noun

cloven hoof (plural cloven hooves or cloven hoofs)

1. A divided hoof, as on bovine animals.
   • 1792, Robert Kerr, The Animal Kingdom, or Zoological System, of the Celebrated Sir Charles Linnæus. Class I. Mammalia: […], Edinburgh: […] A[ndrew] Strahan, and T[homas] Cadell, London; and W[illiam] Creech, Edinburgh, page 346:

     6. Chileſe Horſe.—1. Equus biſulcus. 6. / Has cloven hoofs. Molin. hiſt. nat. Chil. 284. / Inhabits South America.—This obſcure quadruped, which is only mentioned by Molina, frequents the precipitous and rocky mountains of the Andes or Cordellieras; in ſize, number and arrangement of teeth, and in general appearance, it reſembles the Horſe, for which reaſon it is placed by Dr Gmelin in this genus, though its cloven hoofs are ſimilar to thoſe of the animals belonging to the former order: […]

2. The mark of the Devil.
   • 2020, “Seeing God”, performed by The Acacia Strain and Aaron Heard:

     Children of the cloven hooves / Bathe the cross in your father's blood

Synonyms

• cleft hoof
• cloven foot

Derived terms

• show the cloven hoof

Related terms

• cloven-hoofed

Translations

divided hoof, as on bovine animals

• Catalan: unglot (ca) m
• Finnish: sorkka (fi)
• German: Klaue (de) f
• Hungarian: hasított pata, (ambiguous term) hasadt pata
• Ingrian: sorkka
• Irish: crúb scoilte f
• Norwegian:

  Nynorsk: klauv f

• Polish: racica (pl) f
• Russian: раздвоенное копыто n (razdvojennoje kopyto)
• Slovak: ratica f
• Turkish: çatal tırnak, çift tırnak, yarık tırnak
• Welsh: carn fforchog m

mark of the Devil

• Finnish: pukinsorkka
• German: Pferdefuß (de) m
• Irish: crúb scoilte f