Clean

How to spell clean

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce clean

What does clean mean?

1. adjectiveFree from dirt, marks, or contamination.
2. verbTo remove dirt, marks, or mess from something.
3. adverbCompletely or entirely, especially of an action carried right through.

Clean in a sentence

• adjective

  The hotel room was spotless and clean when they arrived.

• verb

  He hired a service to clean the windows every month.

• adverb

  The saw cut clean through the thick plank.

• adjective

  She put on a clean shirt before the interview.

• verb

  They always clean the oven after a big roast.

• adverb

  She had clean forgotten about the dentist appointment.

Where does clean come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English clǣne, which meant 'clear, pure, unblemished', and could describe both physical cleanliness and moral innocence. It traces back to a West Germanic root shared with the Old High German kleini, 'delicate' or 'fine', and the modern German klein, meaning 'small', a reminder that the senses of fineness and purity were once tightly linked. Over the centuries the English sense narrowed toward 'free from dirt', while German took the same root in the direction of 'small'. The verb meaning 'to make clean' grew naturally out of the adjective and was well established by the medieval period. The adverbial use, as in 'clean forgot' or 'cut clean through', preserves the older flavour of 'completely' or 'entirely'. Because the spelling follows the regular 'ea' pattern pronounced as a long e, it gives fluent adults very little trouble.

How the word is built

• clean (single root from Old English clǣne, meaning clear or pure; no affixes)