Etymologically
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clæne

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈklæː.ne/[1]

Forms

clǣne[1] Also clēne and clāne.[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *klainī, from Proto-Germanic *klainiz (“shining, fine, delicate”).[1][3][4] The adjective is shared by Old Frisian klēne (“narrow, thin”), Old Saxon klēni (“slim, delicate”) and Old High German kleini (“delicate, fine, small”), the source of German klein (“small”);[3][5] Old English alone keeps the sense “clean”.[3][6][5][7]

The further etymology is unknown.[1] Orel equates it with Proto-Slavic *glěnь (“clay, dregs”);[3] Köbler and Wiktionary give the usual connection with the words for “clay” and the root Proto-Indo-European *glei- (“to stick, smear”), through “shining” or “finely smeared”, and Wiktionary reports that this is disputed and that a substrate source has also been proposed.[3][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded as an adverb in the will of the reeve Abba (833×839), a contemporary single sheet: “gif þæt gesele þæt min cynn to ðan clane gewite”, if it happens that my kin dies out so completely.[9][10] As an adjective it appears in the Vespasian Psalter gloss (s. ix med.): “Gesprec dryhtnes gesprec clæne seolfur fyre amearad”, the words of the Lord are pure words, silver tried by fire, for the Latin “eloquia casta” of Psalm 11:7.[11][10]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller begin with “clean, pure, clear”: a house made clean when an unclean spirit is driven out, pure wine and pure water.[12] The Supplement adds physical senses: metal free from alloy (clǣnes feos), land clear of weeds, food fit to eat.[13] Morally it is “pure, chaste, innocent”, and in the laws a man is clǣne when cleared of a charge, as by the ordeal.[14][15] Köbler adds “honourable, true” and “sharp-witted, gifted”.[8] The adverb means “entirely, completely”, as in ne ripe ge ðæt land to clæne, do not reap the land too clean.[12][13] In glosses it renders “mundus”, “purus” and “castus”.[8]

It continued as Middle English clene, now English clean.[16][7]

Timeline

  • 833×839 – to ðan clane gewite “die out so completely” in the will of Abba.[9][10]
  • s. ix med. – clæne seolfur “pure silver” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[11][10]
  • 890×897 – ðonne biþ ðæt hus clæne “then the house is clean” in the Pastoral Care.[12][17]
  • c1175 – clene corn in the Ormulum, in the MED's Middle English record.[16]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. clean, free from dirt; of metal, free from alloy.[12][13]
  2. pure, clear; of land, open, cleared.[12][14]
  3. morally pure, chaste, innocent; cleared of a charge.[14][15]
  4. honourable, true; sharp-witted, gifted.[8]

Adverb

  1. entirely, completely.[12][14]

Word family

  • clǣnlīċ
  • clǣnlīċe
  • clǣnness
  • clǣnsian
  • clǣnsung
  • unclǣne

Descendants

  • Middle English clene (→ English clean; Scots clene; Scots clein)[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 158
  3. ^ a b c d e Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 214
  4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  5. ^ a b Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
  6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. clǣne
  9. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1482
  10. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  11. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
  12. ^ a b c d e f Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 157
  13. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 127
  14. ^ a b c d Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 56
  15. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 35
  16. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  17. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499