Etymologically
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clever

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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

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)