An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/kleben

by Friedrich Kluge

kleben, verb, ‘to cleave (to),’ from Middle High German klëben, Old High German chlëbên, verb, ‘to cleave, adhere, hold on’ (for ë from Teutonic and Aryan ĭ compare Quecksilber, leben, verwesen, &c.); corresponding to Old Saxon kliƀôn, Anglo-Saxon cleofian, English to cleave; Gothic *klibôn is wanting; Scandinavian klifa has only the figurative sense ‘to cling to,’ i.e., ‘to repeat.’ A common Teutonic verb meaning ‘to cleave (to),’ formed from the weakest vowel stage of the Teutonic root klī̆b (see kleiben).