clue (English)
Where does "clue" come from?
The word 'clue' began as the Old English 'clīewen,' referring to a ball of thread or yarn, which traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*glew-' meaning to clump together. The shift in meaning stems from the Greek myth of Theseus, who used a ball of thread as a guide to navigate the Labyrinth. Over time, this physical guide evolved into the figurative sense of a piece of information that helps solve a mystery.
Full etymology tree
- clue (English), 'To provide with a clue.'
- inherited clew (English), 'A roughly spherical mass or body.'
- inherited clewe (Middle English), 'A clew (“lump or sphere of thread or yarn”).'
- inherited clīewen (Old English), 'sphere, ball; skein'
- inherited *kliuwīn (Proto-West Germanic), 'ball, clump'
- inherited *kliuwīną (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *glew- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to ball up, clump together'
- inherited *kliuwīną (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *kliuwīn (Proto-West Germanic), 'ball, clump'
- inherited clīewen (Old English), 'sphere, ball; skein'
- inherited clewe (Middle English), 'A clew (“lump or sphere of thread or yarn”).'
- inherited clew (English), 'A roughly spherical mass or body.'
Direct ancestors
- glew- (Proto-Indo-European)
- clewe (Middle English)
- cliewen (Old English)
- kliuwīn (Proto-West Germanic)
- glew- (Proto-Indo-European)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris