1580s, "handy, dexterous, having special manual ability," apparently from East Anglian dialectal cliver "expert at seizing," perhaps from East Frisian klüfer "skillful," or Norwegian dialectic klover "ready, skillful," and perhaps influenced by Old English clifer "claw, hand" (early usages seem to refer to dexterity). Or perhaps akin to Old Norse kleyfr "easy to split," from Proto-Germanic *klaubri‑ from PIE root *gleubh- "to tear apart, cleave." Extension to intellect is first recorded 1704.
This is a low word, scarcely ever used but in burlesque or conversation; and applied to any thing a man likes, without a settled meaning. [Johnson, 1755]
The meaning has narrowed since, but clever also often in old use and dialect meant "well-shaped, attractive-looking" and in late 18c. and 19c. American English sometimes "good-natured, agreeable." Related: Cleverly; cleverness.
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to tear apart, cleave."
It forms all or part of: cleave (v.1) "to split, part or divide by force;" cleft; clever; clevis; clove (n.2) "slice of garlic;" glyptodon; hieroglyphic; petroglyph.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Greek glyphe "a carving," glyphein "to hollow out, cut out with a knife, engrave, carve;" Latin glubere "to peel, shell, strip;" Old High German klioban, Old English cleofan, Old Norse kljufa "to cleave," Old Norse klofi, Middle Dutch clove "a cleft."
"one who makes use of fallacious arguments," late 15c., from Late Latin sophista, an alternative form of sophistes; the earlier form in English was sophister, sophistre (late 14c.). Latin sophistes is from Greek sophistēs "a master of one's craft; a wise or prudent man, one clever in matters of daily life," from sophizesthai "to become wise or learned," from sophos "skilled in a handicraft, cunning in one's craft; clever in matters of everyday life, shrewd; skilled in the sciences, learned; clever; too clever," a word of unknown origin.
Greek sophistēs came to mean "one who gives intellectual instruction for pay," and at Athens, contrasted with "philosopher," it was a term of contempt.
Sophists taught before the development of logic and grammar, when skill in reasoning and in disputation could not be accurately distinguished, and thus they came to attach great value to quibbles, which soon brought them into contempt. [Century Dictionary]
The "learned man" sense in English is attested from 1610s but is rare.
early 15c., "intellectual, talented," from Old French ingenios, engeignos "clever, ingenious" (Modern French ingénieux), from Latin ingeniosus "of good natural capacity, full of intellect, clever, gifted with genius," from ingenium "innate qualities, ability; inborn character," literally "that which is inborn," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + gignere "to beget" (from PIE *gen(e)-yo-, suffixed form of root *gene- "give birth, beget").
Sense of "skillful, crafty, clever at contrivance" first recorded 1540s; earlier in this sense was Middle English enginous (mid-14c.), from Old French engeignos. Middle English also had engineful "skillful (in war)" (c. 1300). By a direct path, Latin ingenium produced Middle English ingeny "intellectual capacity, cleverness" (early 15c.), but this is obsolete. Compare engine. Related: Ingeniously; ingeniousness.
before vowels pycn-, word-forming element meaning "close, thick, dense," from Latinized combining form of Greek pyknos "thick, dense, solid, compact; numerous; strong; brave; clever," which is of uncertain origin. Often in English via German as pykno-.
1620s, a kind of cosmetic (original citation describes it as "painting stuffe of the Levant"), from slick (v.). The meaning "smooth place on the surface of water caused by oil, etc." is attested from 1849. The meaning "a swindler, clever person" is attested from 1959. As "glossy magazine," by 1934.
also sophistre, late 14c., "man of learning," also "sophist, quibbler, master of clever arguments," from a variant of Old French sophiste (see sophist) with unetymological -er as in philosopher; also compare sorcerer. Fem. form sophistress is attested by 1630s.
"excellent, fine, good, valuable," canting slang, 1560s, also rome, "fine," said to be from Romany rom "male, husband" (see Romany). A very common 16c. cant word (opposed to queer), as in rum kicks "Breeches of gold or silver brocade, or richly laced with gold or silver" [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1785].
By 1774 it also had come to mean rather the opposite: "odd, strange, bad, queer, spurious," perhaps because it had been so often used approvingly by rogues in reference to one another. Or perhaps this is a different word. This was the main sense after c. 1800.
Rom (or rum) and quier (or queer) enter largely into combination, thus-- rom = gallant, fine, clever, excellent, strong; rom-bouse = wine or strong drink; rum-bite = a clever trick or fraud; rum-blowen = a handsome mistress; rum-bung = a full purse; rum-diver = a clever pickpocket; rum-padder = a well-mounted highwayman, etc.: also queere = base, roguish; queer-bung = an empty purse; queer-cole = bad money; queer-diver = a bungling pickpocket; queer-ken = a prison; queer-mort = a foundered whore, and so forth. [John S. Farmer, "Musa Pedestris," 1896]
