clepe

[ kleep ]

/ klip /

Save This Word!

verb (used with object), cleped or clept

[klept] /klɛpt/ (also y·cleped or y·clept

[ee-klept] /iˈklɛpt/ ), clep·ing.Archaic.

to call; name (now chiefly in the past participle as ycleped or yclept).

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of clepe

First recorded before 900; Middle English clepen, Old English cleopian, variant of clipian; akin to Middle Low German kleperen “to rattle”

Words nearby clepe

Cleomenes III, Cleon, Cleopatra, Cleopatra's Needle, CLEP, clepe, clepsydra, clept, cleptobiosis, cleptocracy, cleptomania

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use clepe in a sentence

Wanne ha clepe of swiche er bie into his seruise ine here childhede.
Selections from early Middle English, 1130-1250|Various
And the monks clepe that place Dozoleel, that is to say, the shadow of God.
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville|John Mandeville
And some men clepe it Harme, after the diverse languages of the country.
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville|John Mandeville
In that land groweth the pepper in the forest that men clepe Combar.
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville|John Mandeville

For that is at the north parts that men clepe the Septentrional where it is all only cold.
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville|John Mandeville

British Dictionary definitions for clepe

clepe

/ (kliːp) /

verb clepes, cleping, cleped (kliːpt, klɛpt), clept, ycleped or yclept

(tr) archaic to call by the name of

Word Origin for clepe

Old English cleopian; related to Middle Low German kleperen to rattle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012