Meaning

adjective showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others

adjective mentally quick and resourceful; ; -Bram Stoker

adjective showing inventiveness and skill

originFrom East Anglian dialectal English cliver (“expert at seizing”), from Middle English cliver (“tenacious”). * perhaps from Old English *clifer, clibbor (“clinging”); * or perhaps from Dutch, Low German, or East/Saterland Frisian (compare kluftich (“clever, prudent”), probably derived from Proto-West Germanic *kleuban (“to cleave, split”)); * or dialectal Norwegian klover (“ready, skillful”),…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0