Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗A roughly spherical mass or body. · A ball of thread or yarn. · Yarn or thread as used to guide one's way through a maze or labyrinth; a guide, a clue. · The lower corner(s) of a sail to which a sheet is attached for trimming the sail (adjusting its position relative to the wind); the metal loop or cringle in the corner of the sail, to which the sheet is attached. (on a triangular sail) The trailing corner relative to the wind direction.
to roll into a ball · to raise the lower corner(s) of (a sail)
From Middle English clew, clewe, clowe, clue, clwe, clyw, clywe, from Old English clēowen, clīewen, clīowen, clīwen, clȳwe, clȳwen (“ball, sphere; skein”), from Proto-Germanic *kliuwiną, *klewô (“bale, ball, clump, mass”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to ball up, clump together; lump, swelling”). Akin to Old English clǣġ (“clay”). Doublet of knawel. Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian khnaul (“ball of yarn”), Dutch kluwe, kluwen (“ball thread or yarn, clew”), German Knäuel (“ballyarn; tangle”), Norwegian Nynorsk kljå (“a loom weight”); also Sanskrit ग्लौ (glau, “the moon; camphor; the earth”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*glew-ine-pro
- Inherited-form mentionclewenm
- Inherited-form mentionclēowenang
- Inherited-form mention*kliuwinągem-pro
- Derivation mention*glew-ine-pro · to ball up, clump together; lump, swelling
- Cognate mentionclǣġang · clay
- Doublet mentionknawelen
- Cognate mentionkhnaulcim · ball of yarn
- Cognate mentionkluwenl
- Cognate mentionKnäuelde · ballyarn; tangle
- Cognate mentionkljånn · a loom weight
- Cognate mentionग्लौsa · the moon; camphor; the earth
This page abbreviates 3 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
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"expansion": "Middle English clew"
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{
"name": "inh",
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{
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"t": "to ball up, clump together; lump, swelling"
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"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to ball up, clump together; lump, swelling”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "clǣġ",
"t": "clay"
},
"expansion": "Old English clǣġ (“clay”)"
},
{
"name": "doublet",
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"expansion": "Doublet of knawel"
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{
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"expansion": "Cognates"
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{
"name": "cog",
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"t": "ball of yarn"
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"expansion": "Cimbrian khnaul (“ball of yarn”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "kluwe"
},
"expansion": "Dutch kluwe"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Knäuel",
"t": "ballyarn; tangle"
},
"expansion": "German Knäuel (“ballyarn; tangle”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nn",
"2": "kljå",
"t": "a loom weight"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk kljå (“a loom weight”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
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"1": "sa",
"2": "ग्लौ",
"t": "the moon; camphor; the earth"
},
"expansion": "Sanskrit ग्लौ (glau, “the moon; camphor; the earth”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"clew",
"clew#Middle_English"
],
[
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[
"clowe",
"clowe#Middle_English"
],
[
"clue",
"clue#Middle_English"
],
[
"clwe",
"clwe#Middle_English"
],
[
"clyw",
"clyw#Middle_English"
],
[
"clywe",
"clywe#Middle_English"
],
[
"clēowen",
"cleowen#Old_English"
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[
"clīewen",
"cliewen#Old_English"
],
[
"clīowen",
"cliowen#Old_English"
],
[
"clīwen",
"cliwen#Old_English"
],
[
"clȳwe",
"clywe#Old_English"
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[
"clȳwen",
"clywen#Old_English"
],
[
"*kliuwiną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kliuwiną"
],
[
"*klewô",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/klewô"
],
[
"*glew-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/glew-"
],
[
"clǣġ",
"clæg#Old_English"
],
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"knawel",
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],
[
"khnaul",
"khnaul#Cimbrian"
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[
"kluwe",
"kluwe#Dutch"
],
[
"kluwen",
"kluwen#Dutch"
],
[
"Knäuel",
"Knäuel#German"
],
[
"kljå",
"kljå#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"ग्लौ",
"ग्लौ#Sanskrit"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A roughly spherical mass or body.",
"A ball of thread or yarn.",
"Yarn or thread as used to guide one's way through a maze or labyrinth; a guide, a clue.",
"The lower corner(s) of a sail to which a sheet is attached for trimming the sail (adjusting its position relative to the wind); the metal loop or cringle in the corner of the sail, to which the sheet is attached. (on a triangular sail) The trailing corner relative to the wind direction."
],
"tags": [
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"sourceRecordOrdinal": 347546
},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"to roll into a ball",
"to raise the lower corner(s) of (a sail)"
],
"tags": [
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"intransitive"
],
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