cleave1
- To split with or as if with a sharp instrument.
- To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting: cleave a path through the ice.
- To pierce or penetrate: The wings cleaved the foggy air.
- Chemistry. To split (a complex molecule) into simpler molecules.
cleave2
- To adhere, cling, or stick fast.
- To be faithful: cleave to one's principles.
Are there any other English words with opposite meanings? I'm pretty baffled by how this one arose.
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Not quite what you asked for, but "ravel" and "unravel", apparent opposites, mean the same thing.
ReplyDeleteAlso flammable and inflammable, thaw and dethaw (or unthaw).
ReplyDeleteClaire inadvertently gave me one while doing her homework. She was matching synonyms. The last two words left were "strike" and "hit".
ReplyDelete"That can't be right," she said," because a strike is when you don't hit the ball."
Cleave is one of the classic examples of English being weird, and it's the only such example I know of. Apparently it is the evolved form of two different Old English words that were spelled and pronounced differently, but similar enough to fuse over time.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cleave
Go to the library, and check out Richard Lederer's Crazy English. Lots of this kind of stuff.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Crazy-English-Richard-Lederer/dp/0671023233/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_a
One I remember from the book is the expression "fight with." For example, America fought with Britain in the Revolutionary War. And America fought with Britain in World War II. In the former sentence, with means against. In the latter sentence, with means alongside. Crazy!
ReplyDelete