I'm interested in how and why the verb cleave has two totally opposite definitions:
Definition I. Split or sever (something)
Definiiton II. Adhere strongly to
The referenced website shows the same etymology for both definitions?
Moreover, how can one manage or differentiate these two definitions, to obviate confusion?
Best Answer
OED does differentiate the etymologies:
s.v. cleave, v.1
s.v. cleave, v.2
Biblically enjoined to “cleave unto his wife,” poor Henry VIII appears indeed to have got sadly confused between these two senses, though curiously not in the case of wife #4.