The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is…

cleave (verb, verb):

verb 1

: to adhere firmly and closely or loyally and unwaveringly

verb 2

1: to divide by or as if by a cutting blow : split
2: to separate into distinct parts and especially into groups having divergent views
3: to subject to chemical cleavage

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology : Cleave is part of an exclusive lexical club whose members are known as contronyms: words that have two meanings that contradict one another. In the case of cleave the two meanings belong to two etymologically distinct words. One cleave means “to adhere firmly and closely or loyally and unwaveringly,” as in “a family that cleaves to tradition”; it comes from the Old English verb clifian, meaning “to adhere.” The cleave with meanings relating to splitting and dividing comes from a different Old English word, cleofan, meaning “to split.” So although one might assume the two were once cleaved to one another only to become cloven over time, such is not the case.

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