Clevo
Attested: Clevo on iter 13 of the Antonine Itinerary
Where: At or near Avening, Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds, around ST879979, located by its mileages in the Itinerary.
Name origin: Uncertain. Possibly from Germanic *klewo ‘clump’, whose PIE antecedent is uncertain. Possibly from PIE *gleubh- ‘to cleave’ (whose descendants include cloven), suggested for Glevum Gloucester, where several channels of the river Severn merge into one. Possibly from *klei- ‘to incline’, whose descendants include declivity, which might fit the long shallow valley in which Avening sits.
Notes: The Nailsworth Stream through Avening, which powered several mills from the 1600s to the 1800s, picks up many tributary streams, before passing by the Roman settlement of Gatcombe and many ancient monuments, such as the Tingle Stone, to feed into the river Frome and ultimately the Severn. Nearby Nailsworth may be a calque translation of Clevo, since it has a confluence and its name includes an element from Old English nægel ‘nail, peg’, which was glossed with Latin clavus, and which has been unconvincingly described as a personal name. Probably wrong are Rivet & Smith's amendment of Clevo to Glevum and Coates'(2016) argument that Avening was not named from the pan-European river word usually cited as Avon, assuming without justification that *Avon must be “Brittonic” and failing to recognise that it is attested in writing earlier in English than in Welsh.
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Last edited 14 February 2025 To main Menu