*klau-

The core idea of this root was:

hook, crooked piece of wood

This soon focused on the idea of closing a door by some sort of hook and the general theme of closing is still alive in many offspring today, though it’s sometimes more about a separated space.
Here’s a little (incomplete) overview – as you’ll see, many of the verbs have a translation with schließen in German.

  • close, closure (“lock”… the idea of being close comes from tightness)
  • disclose (“unlock”)
  • enclose (“to shut in”)
  • conclude (“to close with”)
  • include (“to shut in”)
  • seclude (“lock aside”)
  • preclude (“lock in advance”)
  • exclude (“lock out”)
  • occlude (“lock away from”)
  • clavicle (“lock like bone”)
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This root gave rise to 54+ German words.

Word Family 54 words

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