cleave
/ˈkliːv/verb, noun
cleave is spelled C-L-E-A-V-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, cleave means “To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in cleave?
| Letters | 6: C-L-E-A-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,912th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cleave?
Cleave appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cleave?
- /ˈkliːv/
- [ˈkʰl̥ɪi̯v]
Cleave has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-cleave.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cleave
- cleaves present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- cleaving participle, present
- cleft past, participle
- clove past, participle
- cleaved UK, past, participle
- cloven participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cleave mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.
The wings clove the foggy air.
- 2
To break a single crystal (such as a gemstone or semiconductor wafer) along one of its more symmetrical crystallographic planes (often by impact), forming facets on the resulting pieces.
- 3
To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting.
The truck clove a path through the ice.
- 4
(chemistry) To split (a complex molecule) into simpler molecules.
- 5
To split.
- 6
Of a crystal, to split along a natural plane of division.
- 7
rareFollowed by to or unto: to adhere, cling, or stick fast to something.
noun
- 1
Flat, smooth surface produced by cleavage, or any similar surface produced by similar techniques, as in glass.
- 2
A cut (slash) or a cut location, either naturally or artificially.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cleave in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cliver, fendre , tailler |
| German | spalten , kleben |
| Portuguese | partir, talhar |
| Spanish | hender , tallar , aferrarse, adherirse , escindir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cleave come from?
From Middle English cleven, from the Old English strong verb clēofan (“to split, to separate”), from Proto-West Germanic *kleuban, from Proto-Germanic *kleubaną, from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- (“to cut, to slice”). Doublet of clive. Cognate with Dutch klieven, dialectal German klieben, Swedish klyva, Norwegian Nynorsk kløyva; also Ancient Greek γλύφω (glúphō, “carve”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).