OriginFrom Middle English cleve, from Old English clēofa, clēafa (“that which is cloven, a cleft, chasm, cave, den, lair, cell, chamber, cellar, apartment”), from Proto-Germanic *klebô (“chamber, cell”), from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- (“to cut, cleave, split, divide”). Cognate with Old Norse klefi (“a closet, sleeping closet, bedroom”) (whence Icelandic klefi (“cell, compartment”)). Related to cleave.
- dialectalA room; chamber.
- dialectalA cottage.
- obsoleteA cliff or hillside.
- A small town on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, named after Cleve House in Devon, England.
- A local government area is this area of South Australia; in full, the District Council of Cleve.
- A surname.
- A male given name, found predominantly in the United States.
Formscleves(plural)