Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/200

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Kla
( 178 )
Kle

'claw,’ but it is not found in the non-Teut. languages. The root is klu, pre-Teut. glu (comp. Knäuel); OIc. klá, ‘to scratch, shave,’ based on a Teut. klah, is scarcely connected with these cognates.

Klause, f., ‘cell,’ from MidHG. klûse, klûs, f., ‘hermitage, cell,’ also ‘monastery,’ OHG. chlûsa. MidLat. clausa, clusa, clausum, closum, with the meanings ‘locus seu ager sepibus vel muris septus aut clausus,’ also ‘monastery’; hence the HG. word is based on clusa, which is a later participial form, due to clûsus, the partic. of the compounds of claudere, in place of the earlier clausus (comp. Ital. chiusa). On the other hand, MidHG. klôse, klôs, f., ‘hermitage, monastery,’ with the derivative klôsenœre, ‘hermit’ (comp. MidLat. clausarius, ‘monk,’ but clûsinaria, f., ‘virgo deo sacra reclusa’), is based on MidLat. clausa, *clôsa (comp. clôsum). The MidHG. meanings of klôse, klûse, ‘rocky cleft, defile, ravine,’ are connected with MidLat. clûsa, ‘angustus montium aditus.’ Comp. also Kloster, AS. clûs, f., ‘cell.’

Klausel, f., ‘clause,’ in use since the 15th cent., from Lat. clausula.

kleben, vb., ‘to cleave (to),’ from MidHG. klëben, OHG. chlëbên, vb., ‘to cleave, adhere, hold on’ (for ë from Teut. and Aryan ĭ comp. Quecksilber, leben, verwesen, &c.); corresponding to OSax. kliƀôn, AS. cleofian, E. to cleave; Goth. *klibôn is wanting; Scand. klifa has only the figurative sense ‘to cling to,’ i.e., ‘to repeat.’ A common Teut. vb. meaning ‘to cleave (to),’ formed from the weakest vowel stage of the Teut. root klī̆b (see kleiben).

Kleck, Klecks, m., ‘blot,’ ModHG. simply; only the vb. klecken (klecksen) may be traced farther back, MidHG. klęcken, ‘to blot, stain, sputter,’ also ‘to strike sonorously’; the corresponding klac (ckes), m., signifies ‘rent, slit, crack.’

Klee, m., ‘clover,’ from the equiv. MidHG. klê (gen. k'êwes), m., OHG. chlê, chlêo (gen. chlêwes). m. and n.; based on klaiw- (see See, Schnee). The remaining LG. dials., have an extended form, in some cases only partially corresponding, AS. clœ̂fre, clâfre, f., E. clover, Du. klaver, LG. klever and klȧver, ‘clover.’ Perhaps these are based on some obscure compound. Except in the West Teut. languages, too, there are no terms cognate with HG. Klee; in Scand., Ic. smári (smœrur), Norw. and

Swed. (dial.) smœre are used; Dan. klöver is borrowed.

Klei, m., ‘clay,’ ModHG. only, from LG. klei, ‘slime, loam, moist earth,’ allied to Du. klei, f., ‘marsh soil, clay, loam'; comp. E. clay, from AS. clœ̂g. An assumed Goth. *kladdja, f., may be connected with the root klai, by gradation klî, meaning ‘to cleave (to),’ which has a wider ramification in OTeut.; AS. clâm (from klaim), ‘loam, clay,’ E. (dial.) cloam, ‘pottery,’ OHG. chleimen, Scand. kleima, klîna, ‘to besmear’; comp. Kleister and klein. It corresponds in the non-Teut. languages to Gr. γλοι, by gradation γλι; comp. γλοιός, ‘oil lees, clammy stuff,’ as well as γλίνη and γλιά, ‘glue'; Lat. glus, gluten, with û for older oi; OSlov. glina, ‘clay,’ glěnŭ, ‘slime’ (Lett. glĭwe, ‘slime’?). Further MidHG. klënen, ‘to cleave (to), spread over,’ is connected with the Gr. and Slav. noun with the suffix na.

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.’

Kleid, n., ‘dress,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kleit (gen. kleides), n.; wanting in OHG. till the middle of the 12th cent.; hence the word is supposed to be borrowed from Du. kleed. Unknown orig. to OSax. also, as well as to Goth. and several AS. records (AS. clâþ, n., ‘cloth, dress,’ E. cloth; OIc. klœ́þi, m., ‘stuff, cloth, dress’). The history of the word, which is more widely diffused in the modern Teut. languages, is obscure on account of the want of early references and the divergence of the earliest recorded forms, AS clûþ, n., and OIc. klœ́ði, n. (the latter too has an abnormal â instead of ei for the Teut. oi). If the dental of AS. clâþ be regarded as derivative (Goth. *klai-þa), we may infer from the AS. and OIc. meaning ‘stuff, cloth’ (AS. cildclâþ, prop. ‘child's clothes,’ with the special sense ‘swaddling cloth’), a root klai signifying perhaps ‘to weave.’

Kleie, f., ‘bran,’ from the equiv. MidHG. klîe, usually plur. klîen, with the earlier variant klîwen, OHG. chlîa, chlîwa,