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cleavage

/ˈkliːvɪd͡ʒ/
nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,136 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: cleavages

Cleavage is the way a mineral splits along flat planes. Perfect cleavage, cleavage planes, split along the cleavage.

It follows the atomic structure, so a mineral breaks the same way every time: mica peels into sheets and calcite splits into slanted blocks. Gem cutters must work with it or the stone shatters. The word also has an everyday anatomical sense.

File:Cleavage of a woman holding documents in hebrew.jpg: shira gal from Kfar saba, Israel derivative work: Vanalman (talk) · CC BY 2.0

Definitions of cleavage

  1. 1nouncleavageThe way a mineral splits along flat planes.C1

    “The geologist tapped the crystal gently, and it split cleanly along its cleavage.”

cleavage is a splitting.

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *glewbʰ- — to cut, to slice

  2. Proto-Germanic

    *kleubaną

  3. Proto-West Germanic

    *kleuban

  4. Middle English

    cleven

  5. English

    cleave

  6. English, today

    cleavage

Built from

  • clēofan · Old English — to split, to separate

From cleave + -age. cleave comes from Middle English cleven, from the Old English - strong verb clēofan (“to split, to separate”), from Proto-West Germanic kleuban, from Proto-Germanic kleubaną, from Proto-Indo-European glewbʰ- (“to cut, to slice”). a doublet of clive. Cognate with Dutch klieven, dialectal German klieben, Swedish klyva, Norwegian Nynorsk kløyva; also Ancient Greek γλύφω (“carve”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Rocks & Minerals

Practise this word

cleavage in the wild

  • The classic example of cleavage is mica, which cleaves in a single direction along the basal pinacoid, making the layers seem like pages in a book.

    Cleavage (crystal)

  • The visible display of cleavage can provide erotic pleasure for those who are sexually attracted to women, though this does not occur in all cultures.

    Cleavage (breasts)

  • In some cultures today, cleavage exposure is considered unwelcome, or is even legally banned by law.

    Cleavage (breasts)

  • After cleavage of the glycol, the ketone and aldehyde fragments can be inspected and the location of the former hydroxyl groups ascertained.

    Glycol cleavage

  • There are a variety of definitions for cleavage, which may cause confusion and debate.

    Cleavage (geology)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the clēofan family

cleavage

cleavage — used about once every 2,415 pages · #7,136 · point at the bar for the others

  • cleft
  • cleaver