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Added 9 October 2026

clew

/kluː/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about clew at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A roughly spherical mass or body.
A ball of thread or yarn.
Yarn or thread as used to guide one's way through a maze or labyrinth; a guide, a clue.

verb

to roll into a ball
to raise the lower corner(s) of (a sail)

Origin

From Middle English clew, clewe, clowe, clue, clwe, clyw, clywe, from Old English clēowen, clīewen, clīowen, clīwen, clȳwe, clȳwen (“ball, sphere; skein”), from Proto-Germanic *kliuwiną, *klewô (“bale, ball, clump, mass”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to ball up, clump together; lump, swelling”). Akin to Old English clǣġ (“clay”). Doublet of knawel. Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian khnaul (“ball of yarn”), Dutch kluwe, kluwen (“ball thread or yarn, clew”), German Knäuel (“ballyarn; tangle”), Norwegian Nynorsk kljå (“a loom weight”); also Sanskrit ग्लौ (glau, “the moon; camphor; the earth”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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