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clive

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "clive", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "clive" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "clive" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

Clive is aEnglishname. It means: A topographic surname from Old English - someone who lived near a cliff (Old English clif). Pronounced /ˈklaɪv/. Often confused with clue and cove.

Key facts for Clive
PropertyValue
HeadwordClive
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechName
IPA/ˈklaɪv/
Letters5
Frequency rank#12,563
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of Clive in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for Clive is 5 letters long, classified as aname, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈklaɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,563 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for Clive, with forms such as "cclive", "cilve", and "cliev". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "clue", "cove", "close", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is Clive, spelled C-L-I-V-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A topographic surname from Old English - someone who lived near a cliff (Old English clif).
  2. 2
    A male given name transferred from the surname, popular in Britain in the mid-twentieth century.
  3. 3
    A village in Lacombe County, Alberta, Canada.
  4. 4
    A city in Dallas County and Polk County, Iowa, United States.
  5. 5
    An unincorporated community in Tooele County, Utah, United States.
  6. 6
    A town on the Clive River in Hawke's Bay region, New Zealand.
  7. 7
    An eastern suburb of Winsford, Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire, England (OS grid ref SJ6766).
  8. 8
    A village and civil parish in north Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ5124).

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: cclive,cilve,cliev,clivve,cllive,clvie,lcive

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Clive

Misspelling Variants of "Clive"

cclive6cilve5cliev5clivve6cllive6clvie5lcive5
Misspelling Variants of "Clive"

Frequency rank: #12,563 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Clive"?
"Clive" is spelled C-L-I-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈklaɪv/.
What does "Clive" mean?
As a name, "Clive" means: A topographic surname from Old English - someone who lived near a cliff (Old English clif).
What words are commonly confused with "Clive"?
"Clive" is commonly confused with "clue", "cove", "close". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Clive"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Clive" is /ˈklaɪv/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Clive" come from?
"Clive" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.