cleft

C2+ Topic:The Human Body

US /klɛft/ UK /klɛft/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a split, crack, or fissure, especially in rock or skin

A narrow cleft in the cliff offered the climbers a handhold.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a split, crack, or fissure,... crack fissure crevice split cleavage rift chink

Word family

Related forms cleaveclovenclove

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

cleft lip
a split in the upper lip that is present from birth

Adjective + noun

Etymology

Past participle of cleave ('to split'), from Old English (ġe)clyft, from Proto-Germanic *kluftiz, from Proto-Indo-European *gleubh- ('to cut, cleave').

clyft Old English *gleubh- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# cleft

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /klɛft/
**IPA (UK):** /klɛft/

## Meanings
1. a split, crack, or fissure, especially in rock or skin

## Examples
- A narrow cleft in the cliff offered the climbers a handhold.

## Synonyms
- crack
- fissure
- crevice
- split
- cleavage
- rift
- chink

## Related Forms
- cleave
- cloven
- clove

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: clyft
- Root: *gleubh-

## Etymology
Past participle of cleave ('to split'), from Old English (ġe)clyft, from Proto-Germanic *kluftiz, from Proto-Indo-European *gleubh- ('to cut, cleave').

## AI Etymology
Cleft is the past participle of cleave ('to split'), from Old English (ġe)clyft, from Proto-Germanic *kluftiz, from Proto-Indo-European *gleubh- ('to cut, cleave'). Important recorded forms include clyft (Old English) and *gleubh- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers a split, crack, or fissure, especially in rock or skin. The wider family includes related words such as cleave, cloven, and clove.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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