clepe
/kliːp/
"clepe" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“clepe” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To give a call; cry out; appeal.
Corpus desk
Index EN-clepe · clepe · English
clepe · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | clepe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /kliːp/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “clepe” in English
Rare enough to double-check
clepe is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /kliːp/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for clepe, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English clepen, clepien, from Old English cleopian, clipian (“to speak, cry out, call, summon, invoke, cry to, implore”), from Proto-Germanic *klipōną (“to ring, sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *gal- (“to sound”). Cognate with Old Frisian klip… The correct English form is clepe, spelled C-L-E-P-E.
Definition
- 1To give a call; cry out; appeal.
- 2To call; call upon; cry out to.
- 3To call to oneself; invite; summon.
- 4To call; call by the name of; name.
- 5To tell lies about; inform against (someone).
- 6To be loquacious; tattle; gossip.
- 7To report; relate; tell.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how clepe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
She clepes him king of graues, & graue for kings, / Imperious ſupreme of all mortall things.
See Borneo's sea-girt shore where ever flow / the perfumed liquor's thick and curded gouts, / the tears of forest-trees men "Camphor" clepe, / wherefore that Island crop of Fame shall reap.
Etymology
From Middle English clepen, clepien, from Old English cleopian, clipian (“to speak, cry out, call, summon, invoke, cry to, implore”), from Proto-Germanic *klipōną (“to ring, sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *gal- (“to sound”). Cognate with Old Frisian klippa, kleppa (“to ring”), Dutch kleppen (“to toll, chatter”), Middle Low German kleppen (“to strike, sound”), Middle Low German kleperen (“to rattle”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.