▪ I. † clepe, v. Obs. (or arch.)
Forms: 1 clipi-an, cliopi-an, cleopi-an, cliepi-an, clypi-an, clepi-an, 2 cleopi-en, clypi-en, (clopi-en), 2–3 clepi-en, 3 clepie, cleop-en, clup-e(n, 3–5 clep-en, 4 clipie, clep-in, clep, 4–7 clepe, (5 clyppe), 6 cleepe, (Spenser, ycleepe, Sc. clep), 6–7 cleape, (clip), 9 arch. clepe. pa. pple. 1 clypod, etc., 3–7 cleped, -id, -yd, -ud, etc., 5 clepet, -yt, clept, 6 clypped, Sc. clepit, 6–7 cleaped. Also, with prefix: pa. tense 1 ᵹeclipode; pa. pple. 1 ᵹeclyped, 2–5 icleped, -et, -id, -yd, etc., 3–9 ycleped, (3–5 -id, -ud, 5 -yt), 6 yclipt, (yclipped), 7 ycleap'd, yclep'd, ycliped, eclip't, icliped, 8 yclyped, 8–9 yclept.
[OE. clipian corresponds to an OTeut. type *klipôjan; a parallel formation to *klipjan which appears in clip v.3, OFris. klippa to ring, E. Fris. klippen to clink, rap, LG. (Brem. Wbch., etc.) klippen to sound, resound, dial Ger. kliffen to yelp. The stem klip- was app. in ablaut-relation with klap(p)- (see clap v.) as the expression of a lighter or thinner sound. The OE. variants were due to fracture (‘o-umlaut’) of i; the form cleopian originated the ME. clepe.]
† 1. intr. To cry, call; to call on, appeal to (a person), for or after (a thing). Obs.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter iv. 4 Ic cleopiu to him. Ibid. xvi[i]. 6 Ic cleapede forðon ðu ᵹeherdes me. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. John i. 23 Ic am stefn cliopende on woestenne. a 1000 Ps. Lamb. xvi[i]. 6 (Bosw.) Ic clepode forðanðe ðu ᵹehyrdest me. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 43 Clupe we to ure louerd. 1307 Elegy Edw. I, ix, Wel longe we mowe clepe & crie. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1345 Þere he kneles & callez, & clepes after help. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶215, I was at the dore of thin herte, saith Jhesus, and cleped for to entre. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. xxxv, The goddes all After whose helpe I clyppe and call. c 1450 Merlin i. 16 Tho wente they to the wyndowe and clepeden to the peple. c 1500 Lancelot 3094 On his v falowis clepit than sir kay. 1530 Palsgr. 486/1, I clepe, I call. Je huysche. This terme is farre northerne. 1563 Myrr. Mag., Buckhm. lxxii. 7 Cleapyng for vengeaunce of this treacherye. |
† b. (with obj. clause): To proclaim. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 152 He lette an heh climben & lude clepian þat, etc. |
† 2. trans. To call (a person); to summon, bid come; to invite; to invoke, call to witness; = call v. 4, 5, 20 c. Obs.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xx. 8 Clypa þa wyrhtan [c 1160 Hatton G., Clepe þa werhtan]. ― ibid. xx. 26 Maneᵹa synt ᵹeclypede. a 1225 Ancr. R. 98 He cleopeð me{revsc} ich mot gon. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xx. 8 Clepe the workmen, and ȝelde to hem her hijre. c 1458 Agnes Paston in Lett. 312 I. 423 Ther knoweth no man how soon God woll clepe hym. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. Edw. III (1858) 200 Thei cleped up the Kyng [from sleep]. 1540 Taverner Postils, Exhort. Commun., He clepeth us unto him. 1567 Turberv. Poems in Chalmers Eng. Poets II. 613/1 Untrustie Theseus eke let Ariadne clepe. |
† b. To call upon or to, speak to, address. Obs.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 4 A louely ladi..clepte me feire, And seide, ‘sone! slepest þou?’ 1382 Wyclif Isa. viii. 4 Er the child kunne clepe his fader and his moder. c 1450 Merlin ii. 37 Then the kynge cleped Merlyn and seide. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. vi. (v.) 57, I..Rycht reuerently begouth to clepe this man. |
† c. Sc. Law. clepe and call: to summon, cite.
| 1597 Skene De Verb. Sign. s.v. Clep, In pleyis of wrang and vnlaw, in the quhilk clepe, and call, was vsed as ane certaine solemnitie of wordes..as quhen the persewer did clep and call, the defender with wouth, wrang, and vnlaw. |
3. With complemental obj.: To call by the name of, call, name; = call v. 11. Obs. (exc. as in b), but occasionally used as a literary archaism.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John xiii. 13 Ȝe clypiað me lareow & drihten. 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137 §3 Hi læiden ᵹæildes o þe tunes..& clepeden it tenserie. a 1225 Ancr. R. 132 God cleopeð þe gode ancren briddes of heouene. a 1300 Cursor M. 2146 (Cott.) Salem þat now men clepes ierusalem. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶212 Thow schalt clepe his name Jhesus. c 1400 Mandeville xxv. 258 The Cytee of Alizandre, that now is clept the ȝate of helle. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 34 A religious house þey clepte hit þenne. 1473 in Nichols Churchw. Acc. Walberswick (1797) 193 Payd..for a book, Klepyd a pye. 1523 Act 14 & 15 Hen. VIII, c. 5 Enacte..that the sixe persons beforesaid..be called and cleaped electes. 1591 Spenser Vis. World's Van. v, I saw the fish (if fish I may it cleepe)..The huge Leviathan. 1604 Shakes. Ham. i. iv. 19 (Globe ed.) Other nations.. clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase Soil our addition. 1615 W. Hull Mirr. Maiestie 62 Christ doth often cleape the Church his Sister. a 1631 Drayton Ballad Dowsabel, A daughter cleped Dowsabel. [1656 Blount Gl., Cleped (Sax.), called, named. 1858 Kingsley Poems, Red King 61 Men clepen that water Tyrrel's ford.] |
b. In this sense, the pa. pple. ycleped, yclept (ɪˈklɛpt), was retained in use (beside the ordinary cleped) down through the ME. period, was greatly affected in 16th c., and is still a frequent literary archaism. See also yclept.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 9 Heo weren iclipet synagoge al swa is nu iclepet al cristen folc. c 1205 Lay. 2666 Heo wes icleped Kaer Ebrauc. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 7 Þat oþer wonder..That Stonhyngel ys yclepud. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. iv. (1845) 20 The marshall ycclipped was dame Reason. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 602 Hol. Iudas I am, ycliped Machabeus. Dum. Iudas Machabeus clipt, is plaine Iudas. 1616 R. C. Times' Whis. ii. 607 The dredfull beast, yclepèd crocodile. 1687 A. Behn Emp. Moon i. iii, A winged horse, icliped Pegasus. 1790 W. B. Rhodes Bomb. Fur. i. (1830) 7 Hail, Artaxominous! ycleped the Great! 1796 Campaigns 1793–4 I. ii. ii. 108 A sentinel mounted, yclep'd a vidette. 1823 Byron Juan xii. lvi, Microcosm on stilts, Yclept the Great World. |
† 4. ellipt. To mention by name, speak of. Obs.
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §39 Somme..seyn þat yif men clepen þe latitude, thay mene the arch meridian..intercept by-twixe the cenyth and the equinoxial. |
▪ II. † clepe, n. Obs.
Also clep.
[f. prec. vb.]
1. A call, cry, shout. rare.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 1118 (Trin.) Caym..wende to haue scaped wiþal For any monnes clepe or cal [Cott., etc. Þat nan him cuth ne clepe ne cale]. a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. 1022 With clepes and cries to fill the streets. |
2. Sc. Law. clep and call: full legal citation.
| c 1375 Quoniam Attach. xxxiv, Non sicut fit in aliis placitis de wrang et vnlaw in quibus fit clep et call. ― Bute MS. fo. 141 (heading) in Sc. Acts I. 182 Þe fourme to mak clepe and cal apon brekyng of proteccyon. |
▪ III. clepe
obs. f. clip v.1, v.3 to embrace, to clink.