клёвый

Etymology

First recorded in 1820 by A. A. Uspensky in the Fenya argot of Vladimir with the meaning 'noble' (provided клювый (kljuvyj) in the "Suzdal dialect" by Pallas in 1787 is a misprint or typo instead of *кліовый). From the second half of the 19th century, it also appears in thieves' argot. According to Preobrazhensky's suggestion, supported by Vasmer, it comes from the verb клевать (klevatʹ) (further from Proto-Slavic *kľьvati, from which originated, among others: Old Church Slavonic кльвати (klĭvati), perfective клюнѫти (kljunǫti), Ukrainian клювати (kljuvaty), Belarusian клюваць (kljuvacʹ), Bulgarian кълва́ (kǎlvá, “I peck”), Serbo-Croatian кљу̏jем, кљу̀вати, Slovene kljuváti, kljújem, Old Czech kl᾽uju, klvati, Czech klít (from *kljuti), Polish kluć, klwać, Upper Sorbian kluwać sо (“tease one another”), Lower Sorbian kluju (“I peel”), modern kluwaś). In this case, it may come from fishermen's jargon, with the original meaning '(good) pecking'. According to an alternative hypothesis by Studinsky, supported by Bondaletov, from Greek kλέος 'glory, honor' (a noticeable number of Greek borrowings of not entirely clear origin are known in the Fenya argot). According to Priyomysheva, difficulties with the entry of the word into the literary language may testify in favour/favor of this version. Cf. Dalya: клюжий (kljužij) (from клюдь (kljudʹ)), клювый (kljuvyj) 'good, good-looking, handsome, stately, prominent'.