clever

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈklɛv.ə/ (UK); /ˈklɛv.ɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English cliver, of uncertain origin.^[2][3][4] Barnhart relates it to Middle English clivre, claw, and to Old English clifian (“to stick”) (see cleave), as if “sharp to seize”;^[5][3] MWU suggests a Scandinavian source, compare Danish dialect kløver, skilful;^[6] Etymonline mentions East Frisian klüfer, skilful, and Norwegian dialect klover.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Expert or nimble with the claws or hands, quick to seize: about 1220 in the OED, before 1250 in Barnhart.^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

Deft with the hands, handy, is from 1580–95, in the letters of Robert Southwell.^[5][7][2] Extension to the intellect, quick-witted, is first recorded in 1704.^[2][7] Johnson (1755) called it a low word used of anything one likes, without settled meaning.^[2][8] In dialect and old use it also meant well-shaped or handsome, and in American English of the 18th–19th centuries good-natured or agreeable.^[2][3] Collins notes the British informal not too clever, unwell.^[9] In Yorkshire dialect clever was also a verb, to boast.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1220 – nimble in seizing.^[7]
• 1580 – deft with the hands.^[5]
• 1704 – intelligent.^[2]
• 1755 – a low word in Johnson.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Quick to understand and learn; intelligent.
2. Showing skill or ingenuity: a clever idea.
3. Skilful with the hands; dexterous.
4. Superficially smart or witty.

Word family

• cleverly
• cleverness
• cleverish
• cleverishly
• overclever
• unclever

Related words

• cleave
• clever-clever

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)