>>Mark J. Reed wrote:
>>
>> I'm sorry, but I completely fail to see how either
>> "to rent" or "to cleave" is its own antonym. What
>> am I missing??
>"Ph.D." <phil@...> wrote:
>"To cleave" can mean "split in two" as in "a meat
>cleaver," and it can also mean "to adhere together"
>as in "a man shall cleave to his wife and the two
>shall become one."
>"To rent" is not really its own antonym, but perhaps
>the original poster was referring to the fact that a
>landlord rents a property (so he's "giving" it to
>someone else) and a tenant rents a property (so
>he's "taking" it from someone else).
Some folks are missing the point because of an error in the original
message. The contrast is not between "to rent" and "to cleave," but
between "to REND" and "to cleave." "Rent" is the past tense
of "rend."
to rend one's garments.
He rent his garments in sorrow.
Thus "cleave, split in two" is a synonym of "rend, tear."
And "cleave, adhere" is an antonmym of "rend, tear."
Charlie