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clive

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Clive¹

  • /ˈklaɪv/

Rhymes with -aɪv

proper noun

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

clive²

Where it comes from

From Middle English cliven, from Old English clīfan (“to cleave, adhere, stick”), from Proto-West Germanic *klīban, from Proto-Germanic *klībaną (“to glue, stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *gleybʰ- (“to lubricate, stick”).

Cognate with Dutch kleven (“to adhere, stick”), German kleben (“to adhere, stick”), Swedish kliva (“to climb, stalk”), Icelandic klífa (“to climb, ascend”).

verb clives · cliving · clived · clove

  1. intransitive To climb; ascend.

clive³

Where it comes from

From Middle English *clive (in compound: Middle English garclive), from Old English clīfe (“clifers (cleavers), burdock”), from Proto-West Germanic *klībā. Cognate with Middle Dutch kleve, klijve (“burdock”), Middle Low German klive (“burdock”).

noun clives

  1. Burdock or agrimony.

clive⁴

Where it comes from

From Middle English cliven, from Old Norse klyfja, klufða (“to split, chop, cleave”), from Proto-Germanic *kleubaną (“to split, pick”), from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- (“to cut, carve, peel”). Cognate with Old English clēofan (“to cleave, split, separate”). Doublet of cleave.

verb clives · cliving · clived

  1. transitive To split; separate; cleave; chop. After 'frosting' the stone may be 'clived' or split along the bedding planes. Once clived, the thin slabs are dressed for use and sold as Collyweston Slates, for use as tilestones.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: macaulay, klein, alan, clay, cliff, kle, ridge, bluff, precipice, escarpment, crag, promontory, ledge, drop-off, brink, brow

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MLA

"clive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/clive. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

clive. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/clive

Chicago

"clive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/clive.

BibTeX
@misc{clive_2026,
  title = {clive},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/clive},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}