Thursday, August 09, 2012

cleamed


to smear with clay
- Century Dictionary & Encyclopedia, 1911 ed.

2 comments:

Brother Dub said...

I guess 'claymed' would be conphusing.

Jay King said...

Not too far off the mark. Comes from the Anglo-Saxon word, "claman," meaning to smear clay (or any viscous material) over a surface.
Of course, we all know the word 'confuse' comes from 'corn fuse,' a botanical process that's too convoluted to go into here.