English
recluse
Recluse comes from Latin reclūdere ‘to disclose, to open’, from claudō ‘close’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘key, hook, nail’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-‘key, hook, nail’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudō‘to close’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudō‘close’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEreclūdere‘to disclose, to open’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400reclus
- Englishearliest quotation 1563recluse
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-‘key, hook, nail’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudō‘to close’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudō‘close’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEreclūdere‘to disclose, to open’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400reclus
- Englishearliest quotation 1563recluse
Earliest quotation: 1563, John Foxe: “that day of appearance taken out of the recluse…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘key, hook, nail’
include, cataract, conclave, subclavian, 28 more
through Proto-Italic *klaudō ‘to close’
closet, disclose, enclose, inclusiveness, 26 more
through Latin claudō ‘close’
close, exclusive, conclusion, closure, conclude, inclusion, inclusive, exclude, clause, cloister, sluice, claustrophobia, preclude, occlusion, cloture, 31 more
Today it means
adj Sequestered; secluded, isolated.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- / recluse