clepe
/kliːp/
"clepe" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“clepe” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To give a call; cry out; appeal.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | clepe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /kliːp/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “clepe” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for clepe is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kliːp/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “clepe”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-L-E-P-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kliːp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.