Picture a length of cloth being laid over a body until nothing is left uncovered. That single movement — cloth going on, from outside, all the way over — is what the whole word is made of. Ask who holds the cloth and you get one branch of the word; ask what is under it and you get the other.
From the word’s history
Wiktionary traces clothe to Middle English clothen and Old English *clāþian, the verb built on the same root as the noun cloth, from Proto-Germanic *klaiþōną. The material comes first and the action is named after it, which is why the picture inside the verb is always a piece of cloth going over something.
維基詞典把 clothe 追到中古英文 clothen、古英文 *clāþian，字根和名詞 cloth（布）相同，再往上是原始日耳曼語 *klaiþōną。先有布這個材料，動作才照著它命名。這就是為什麼這個動詞裡永遠有「一塊布覆上去」的畫面，也是它後來能拿來講草覆山坡、霧罩山谷的原因。
Wiktionary, entry 'clothe' (packet source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:928537061): 'From Middle English clothen, from Old English *clāþian, from Proto-Germanic *klaiþōną... See also cloth, clad.'
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
clotheverb/ˈkləʊð/
- 1
To adorn or cover with clothing; to dress; to supply clothes or clothing.
- to feed and clothe a family; to clothe oneself extravagantly
- Go with me to clothe you as becomes you.
- 2
To cover or invest, as if with a garment.
- to clothe somebody with authority or power
- language in which they can clothe their thoughts
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。