An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/kleiben

by Friedrich Kluge

kleiben, vb., ‘to stick, glue,’ from MidHG. and OHG. kleiben, ‘to fix firmly, fasten,’ prop. ‘to cause to adhere or hold on'; a causative of the vb. klîben, obsolete in ModHG. and rarely found even in MidHG. OHG. chlîban, OSax. biklîƀan, ‘to cleave, adhere.’ OIc. klífa, ‘to climb,’ proves the connection of ModHG. klimmen (which see) with the root klī̆b, klī̆f, ‘to cleave (to),’ from pre-Teut. glī̆p (Teut. f in Swiss χlefe, ‘box on the ear.’