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clepe. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
clepe, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
clepe in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
clepe you have here. The definition of the word
clepe will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
clepe, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English clepen, clepien, from Old English cleopian, clipian (“to speak, cry out, call, summon, invoke, cry to, implore”), from Proto-Germanic *klipōną (“to ring, sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *gal- (“to sound”). Cognate with Old Frisian klippa, kleppa (“to ring”), Dutch kleppen (“to toll, chatter”), Middle Low German kleppen (“to strike, sound”), Middle Low German kleperen (“to rattle”).
Pronunciation
Verb
clepe (third-person singular simple present clepes, present participle cleping, simple past cleped or clept, past participle cleped or clept or yclept)
- (intransitive, archaic or dialectal) To give a call; cry out; appeal.
- (transitive, archaic or dialectal) To call; call upon; cry out to.
- (transitive, archaic or dialectal) To call to oneself; invite; summon.
- (transitive, archaic or dialectal) To call; call by the name of; name.
1880, Richard Francis Burton, Os Lusíadas, volume II, page 408:See Borneo's sea-girt shore where ever flow / the perfumed liquor's thick and curded gouts, / the tears of forest-trees men "Camphor" clepe, / wherefore that Island crop of Fame shall reap.
1937, Rex Stout, chapter 8, in The Red Box:Boyden McNair, with his right elbow on his knee and his bent head resting on the hand which covered his eyes, sat near Wolfe's desk in the dunce's chair, yclept that by me on the day that District Attorney Anderson of Westchester sat in it while Wolfe made a dunce of him.
- (intransitive, now chiefly dialectal, often with 'on') To tell lies about; inform against (someone).
2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 173:You tried to mentor someone, teach them the basics of the trade, and they ran off to clype on you.
- (intransitive, now chiefly dialectal) To be loquacious; tattle; gossip.
- (transitive, now chiefly dialectal) To report; relate; tell.
Usage notes
The verb is obsolete, except in certain dialects or when used in the past participle yclept which is sometimes used as a deliberate archaism, or as an idiomatic set phrase: aptly yclept.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Noun
clepe (plural clepes)
- (now chiefly dialectal) A cry; an appeal; a call.
a. 1547, “Virgil’s Æneid”, in Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, transl., edited by Geo. Fred. Nott, The Works of Henry Howard Earl of Surrey and of Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, volume I, London: T. Bensley, published 1815, book II, page 124, lines 1021–1024:So bold was I to show my voice that night / With clepes, and cries, to fill the street throughout / With Creuse’ name in sorrow, with vain tears ; / And often-sithes the same for to repeat.
Anagrams
Latin
Verb
clepe
- second-person singular present active imperative of clepō
Middle English
Verb
clepe
- Alternative form of clepen
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from French crêpe. Doublet of crespo.
Noun
clepe m (plural clepes)
- (Louisiana) crepe
Yola
Etymology
From Middle English clepen, from Old English clipian, from Proto-Germanic *klipōną (“to ring, sound”).
Pronunciation
Verb
clepe (past participle ee-clepèd)
- to call, to name
References
- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 30