English → Latin
“cleave” in Latin
inhaereōto stick or inhere in; stick, cleave, hang or adhere to; hold on to; to cling or adhere to, engage deeply or closely in;findōto cleave, break up, separate, divide, split, part; to split, burst; to dividediffindōto divide (cleave asunder)caedōto cut, hew, fell; to strike, beat; to kill, to murderlignumfirewood; wood tissue; treeungulahoof, claw; a horse; an aromatic spicebisulcushaving two furrowsdiscutiōto strike asunder, dash to pieces, shatter; to scatter or disperse, dissipate (especially an enemy); to examine, discussmūruswall, city wall(s), (usually of a city, as opposed to pariēs); mounds made without ditchessecōto cut, cut off; to cleave, divide; to operate, amputate, perform surgery
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
cleave
Intr., haerere in aliqua re; adhaerere alicui rei: inhaerere alicui rei or in aliqua re, e.g., lingua adhaeret or inhaeret: adhaerescere alicui rei or ad aliquid: inhaerescere in aliqua re. FIG., to cleave to a habit, *institutum suum mor dicus tenere: to words, *in verborum quasi cortice haerere: to cleave to a person continually, quasi umbra aliquem ec quitur aliquis; se agglutinare (Plaut., Menaechmei, 2, 2, 63): manere (to remain fast) haeret ei peccatum (he cleaves to his fault) se dare, se dedere, se tradere alicui or alicui rei: se addicere alicui (to cleave to a person or thing from inclination): morem gerere, obsequi alicui (cleave to a person): indulgere alicui rei (cleave to anything): studere alicui rei (stronger term): se conferre ad studium alicujus rei: dedere ae studio alicujus rei: totum se tradere alicui (stronger term for to cleave to anybody), also totum alicujus esse: alicujus esse proprium (Cic., ad Div., 7, 30, 2): multum esse in re (stronger term for to cleave to anything; e.g., in venationibus). Vid: CLING.
cleave
Tr., findere (general term): diffindere (asunder): caedere (with an axe; e.g., lignum): cleft, fissus (general term, as Suet., Caes., 61, ungula): bisulcus (in two parts = cloven, ungula: pes: lingua): to cleave a rock, saxum diffindere: discutere (to strike asunder; e.g., murum): secare (cut; PROP. and IMPROP.): persecare: intersecare (PROP.): scindere (PROP. and IMPROP.): to clean, in the middle, medium secare: ictu findere (with a blow): dissecare. Cloven footed animals, bisulca. plur. A horse with hoofs cloven like fingers, equus in modum digitorum fissis ungulis (Suet.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for cleave?
- The usual Latin words for “cleave” are inhaereō, findō, diffindō; also caedō, lignum, ungula. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.