clove

Meanings

Noun

• A very pungent aromatic spice, the unexpanded flower bud of the clove tree.
• A clove tree, of the species Syzygium aromaticum (syn. Caryophyllus aromaticus (species)), native to the Moluccas (Indonesian islands), which produces the spice.
• An old English measure of weight, containing 7 pounds (3.2 kg), i.e. half a stone.
• One of the small bulbs formed in the axils of the scales of a large bulb.
• A narrow valley with steep sides, used in areas of North America first settled by the Dutch

Verb

• Past of cleave

Origin

• From Middle English clove, an alteration of earlier clowe, borrowed from the first component of Old French clou (de girofle) (modern French clou de girofle), from Latin clāvus ("nail") for its shape. Also see clāva. clou.
• From Middle English clove, from Old English clufu, from Proto-Germanic *klubō, related to clēofan, hence with the verbal etymology hereafter.
• Borrowed from Dutch kloof.