Clue

How to spell clue

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce clue

What does clue mean?

1. nounA piece of evidence or information that helps solve a problem or mystery.
2. verbTo give someone the information they need to understand a situation (usually 'clue in').

Clue in a sentence

• noun

  The detective found a vital clue in the abandoned car.

• verb

  Her assistant offered to clue the new manager in before the meeting.

• noun

  The missing receipt was the only clue to where the money had gone.

• verb

  Nobody bothered to clue me in about the change of plans.

Where does clue come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Clue is a respelled form of the older English word 'clew', which in Old English (cliwen or cleowen) meant a rounded ball of thread or yarn. The connection to solving mysteries comes straight from Greek mythology: Theseus unwound a ball of thread as he walked into the Minotaur's labyrinth so that he could follow it back out, so a 'clew' became anything that guides you through a puzzle or out of a difficulty. By the early 1600s the figurative sense of a hint that leads to a solution was well established, and the spelling 'clue' gradually became standard for that meaning while 'clew' lingered for the literal ball of thread. The word's Germanic roots tie it to similar words in Dutch (kluwen) and German (Knäuel), both describing coiled thread. Because the spelling shifted from -ew to -ue, the silent way the ending is pronounced is the main thing to remember.

How the word is built

• clue (variant spelling of 'clew', a ball of thread)