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Added 9 October 2026

cleft

/ˈklɛft/ noun

In Latin: bifidus Wiktionary

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

An opening, fissure, or V-shaped indentation made by or as if by splitting.
The river flows through a cleft in the mountains.
A piece made by splitting.
a cleft of wood
A disease of horses; a crack on the band of the pastern.

verb

To syntactically separate a prominent constituent from the rest of the clause that concerns it, such as threat in "The threat which I saw but which he didn't see, was his downfall."

verb

simple past and past participle of cleave

adjective

split, divided, or partially divided into two.

Origin

From Middle English clift, from Old English ġeclyft, from Proto-West Germanic *klufti, from Proto-Germanic *kluftiz, equivalent to cleave + -t (“-th”). Compare Dutch klucht (“coarse comedy”), Swedish klyft (“cave, den”), German Kluft. See cleave.

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

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