cloven
Americanverb
adjective
verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
- uncloven adjective
Etymology
Origin of cloven
First recorded in 1150–1200, for the adjective
Explanation
Something that's cloven is divided in two. Goats, with their funny, two-toed feet, are often described as having cloven hooves. It's common to see the adjective cloven describing the hooves of animals like sheep, goats, and deer. Jewish religious law specifies that animals that have cloven hooves but don't chew their cud, like pigs, are unclean and shouldn't be eaten. Other things can be cloven, too, if they're divided from each other. If you break up with your girlfriend, you can say the two of you are now cloven. The Old English root, cleofan, means "to split or separate."
Vocabulary lists containing cloven
The Lightning Thief
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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The Tempest
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Foot and mouth disease is a highly contagious virus that affects cloven hooved animals.
From Reuters • Jul. 20, 2022
The plant’s long, slender leaves are cloven at the top and tapered at the tip, like an exaggerated cartoon heart.
From New York Times • Nov. 11, 2019
“And in their most unmitigable rage into a cloven pine, within which rift imprisoned he didst painfully—”
From The New Yorker • Jul. 8, 2019
“I expected cloven hoofs,” said one former NSC staffer.
From Washington Post • Mar. 4, 2019
Often the baby has a deeply cloven skull.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
