clothyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[cloth 词源字典]
cloth: [OE] The history of the word cloth is not known, beyond the fact that its immediate source is Germanic (German has the related kleid ‘garment’). In Old English it meant both ‘piece of fabric’ and ‘fabric in general’, and in the plural it was applied to ‘garments’ (hence modern English clothes). The verb clothe, too, probably goes back to Old English times, although it is not recorded before the 12th century.
[cloth etymology, cloth origin, 英语词源]
cloth (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
Old English claþ "a cloth, sail, cloth covering, woven or felted material to wrap around one," hence, also, "garment," from Proto-Germanic *kalithaz (cognates: Old Frisian klath "cloth," Middle Dutch cleet, Dutch kleed "garment, dress," Middle High German kleit, German Kleid "garment"), of obscure origin. As an adjective from 1590s. The cloth "the clerical profession" is from 17c. in reference to characteristic dress.