Etymology: Perhaps (i) < Anglo-Norman clok, clokke (late 14th cent. in del clok , de la clok , de clokke , used to express time, following a numeral indicating the hour), variant of Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French cloche (French cloche ), (regional: northern) cloke , Old French, Middle French (regional: northern) cloque bell (11th cent.; c1380 denoting a bell in a clock), cloak (early 13th cent.: see cloak n.) < post-classical Latin cloca , clocca bell (from 7th cent. in Irish sources, from 8th cent. in British and continental sources), probably ultimately of imitative origin, perhaps via a Celtic base (compare Early Irish cloc , clocc : see note). Or perhaps (ii) < Middle Dutch clocke bell (early 13th cent.; first half of the 14th cent. in ūreclocke (striking) clock, literally ‘hour bell’ (Dutch uurklok , now rare)), clock (beginning of the 16th cent. or earlier, perhaps as a shortening of ūreclocke ; Dutch klok bell, clock), probably ultimately < Early Irish clocc , perhaps via post-classical Latin cloca , clocca . (See note for forms in other Germanic languages.) The original sense in post-classical Latin, French, and the Germanic and Celtic languages was ‘bell’, although the English word seems never to have become established in this general sense, for which the usual word since the Old English period has been bell n.¹ The application to devices used to measure and indicate the passage of time appears to reflect the introduction of striking clocks, or of bells on which the hours were mechanically struck (compare note at sense A. 1a). For further discussion see etymological note.Further etymology and geographical spread. The word is recorded in the sense ‘bell’ from the 7th cent. in post-classical Latin (earliest in sources from Ireland) and from the 9th cent. in Germanic languages. Its early geographical spread appears to have been connected with that of Christianity in western and northern Europe; corresponding words are not found in the southern Romance languages, where the usual words for bell are reflexes of post-classical Latin campana campana n. Given the apparent historical context and the fact that the earliest evidence for the word appears to come from Ireland, it seems likely to have originated in Ireland or the west of Britain, probably in imitation of the rattling or clanging noise of early handbells, which were made of sheet metal folded into a quadrilateral shape, rather than the ringing of the cast circular bell of later date. Forms in Romance languages. With the Anglo-Norman and Old French words cited above compare Old Occitan cloca bell, cloak, Catalan cloca bell ( < Occitan). Forms in Celtic languages. Although the word is first attested in Ireland, the relationship between the Celtic and Latin forms is unclear: the final consonant of the Brittonic forms (Welsh cloch bell (13th or 14th cent.), Old Cornish cloch , Middle Breton cloch (Breton kloc'h )) shows a regular development from a voiceless stop also seen in Latin clocca , whereas Early Irish cloc , clocc apparently had a voiced final stop (surviving in Irish clog ), which may suggest borrowing from British Latin. Forms in Germanic languages. With Middle Dutch clocke compare Old English clugge (see below), Old Frisian klokke bell (West Frisian klok bell, clock), Old Saxon klocka , glogga bell (Middle Low German klocke bell, clock, hour), Old High German glocka bell (Middle High German glocke , glogge ; German Glocke ; compare also Middle High German ūreglocke , ōrglocke , hōrglocke clock, literally ‘hour bell’ (late 14th cent.; probably after Middle Dutch ūreclocke )), all probably reflecting borrowing from Early Irish, perhaps via post-classical Latin. It has alternatively been suggested that these words may have arisen within Germanic and are rather to be connected with Old High German klokkōn to knock, strike, to make a knocking sound (Middle High German klocken to strike, knock, German klocken : see clock v.¹); however, the attested forms of the Old High German noun are more consistent with borrowing. In the Scandinavian languages compare Old Icelandic klokka , klukka bell, cloak, (in late sources: early 16th cent.) clock (Icelandic klukka bell, clock), Norwegian (Nynorsk and Bokmål) klokke bell, clock, Old Swedish klokka bell, (in late sources: 15th cent.) clock (Swedish klocka bell, clock, cloak), Old Danish klokkæ bell, (in late sources: late 15th cent.) clock (Danish klokke bell, clock, cloak); these probably show borrowing from post-classical Latin and Middle Low German, although borrowing directly from Irish has also been suggested. Old English evidence. Compare Old English (feminine) clugge bell (rare), which is clearly an independent borrowing, perhaps via Early Irish (compare the voiced final consonant in that language):eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iv. xxiv. 340 Ða gehyrde heo semninga in þære lyfte uppe cuðne sweg & hleoðor heora clucgan [OE Cambr. Univ. Libr. cluggan, OE Corpus Oxf. cluccgan; L. campanae sonum], þær heo wunedon to gebedum gecegde & awehte beon. Grammatical gender. In all the Celtic languages except Welsh the word is masculine, and it has been suggested that the feminine gender of Welsh cloch reflects a secondary change, perhaps after Latin. In the Germanic languages (as in Latin, French, and Old Occitan) it is a feminine noun. It has been suggested that the gender of the Latin word may reflect influence from post-classical Latin campana (feminine) bell (see campana n.). Notes on specific senses. With sense A. 8 perhaps compare Dutch klokhuis seed-vessel of an apple or pear (1500–25; 1300–25 in Middle Dutch in sense ‘bellhouse, belfry’), West Frisian klokhûs seed-vessel or core of apple or pear (1829 in this sense); however, the German original of quot. 1599 at sense A. 8 does not contain a related word, and it is possible that clockes in this text represents a transmission or typographical error for colkes , plural of colk n.¹ In sense A. 9 so called from a children's game in which the number of puffs needed to blow the seeds from the dandelion's seed head is supposed to tell what time ‘o'clock’ it is. In sense A. 10 chiefly translating scientific Latin Horologium (1763 denoting the constellation: see horologium n. 2). As adverb shortened from o'clock adv.

Etymology: Origin unknown. Compare clocked adj.¹Various suggestions have been made as to the origin of this word. It has been proposed that it may be related to clock n.¹ or a related word in another language in the sense ‘bell’ (see clock n.¹ 2 and compare discussion in etymology), either because a stocking gore was often bell-shaped, or because figures of bells often featured on the embroidered panels of stockings; however, neither of these conjectures is supported by evidence. It is also possible that this word is a specific sense development of cloak n. (itself ultimately related to clock n.¹), which has a similar range of spellings, although the motivation for such a development would be unclear. Early examples (especially in sense 1) are sometimes difficult to distinguish from those of cloak n., which is also attested in spellings indicating a short vowel in the 16th cent.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps either the reflex of a borrowing < early Scandinavian or a later borrowing < a Scandinavian language (compare Icelandic klukka (in brunnklukka (17th cent.), brúnklukka (c1700), both in the sense ‘water beetle’), Faroese klukka beetle (also in e.g. svartaklukka ground beetle, trantklukka weevil), Swedish †klocka beetle (early 19th cent.; now only in svartklocka ground beetle, mealworm beetle)), of uncertain origin (see note).The words for beetles in the modern Scandinavian languages perhaps show a specific sense development of the Scandinavian word represented by Old Icelandic klokka , klukka (Icelandic klukka ) and its cognates (see clock n.¹), either in its later sense ‘clock, watch’ (arising from a perceived similarity between the tapping or clicking sound made by some beetles and the ticking of a clock or watch: perhaps compare also death watch n., watchman n. 6), or in its original sense ‘bell’, with allusion to the shiny, domed carapace of such beetles (perhaps compare Icelandic bjalla beetle (19th cent.; perhaps an alteration of Danish bille beetle, after Icelandic bjalla bell n.¹)).

Etymology: Cognate with or formed similarly to Middle Dutch clocken to cluck (Dutch klokken , kloeken ), German regional klocken to gurgle, (of a hen) to cluck (perhaps compare also Old High German klockôn to knock, make a knocking sound (Middle High German klocken , German klocken , both ‘to knock’)), Swedish klocka to cluck, and also forms in the Germanic languages with -u- cited at cluck v., all of imitative origin. Compare similarly classical Latin glocīre to cluck like a hen, ancient Greek κλώζειν to cluck in disapprobation, and the derivative noun κλωγμός clucking sound to urge on a horse, in Hellenistic Greek also clucking of hens.With use in sense 3 of sounds made by the human body (compare quot. c1450) compare Old English cloccettan (of the stomach) to make a rumbling noise (in an isolated attestation; compare Old English -ettan, frequentative suffix).

Etymology: < Middle French cloquer (15th cent.), variant of Anglo-Norman and Middle French clocher (French clocher ) to limp, hobble, to stumble (early 12th cent. in Old French as clocier ) < an unattested post-classical Latin form *cloppicāre < post-classical Latin cloppus lame (see clop v.) + classical Latin -icāre, verbal suffix. Compare Old Occitan clopchar (13th cent.).