How a ball of thread led a hero out of a labyrinth, and became every detective’s favourite word. Tap ▶ to hear each step read aloud.
In Old English a cliwen, later clew, was a ball of thread or yarn.
In the Greek myth, the hero Theseus went into the Labyrinth to fight the Minotaur. Princess Ariadne gave him a ball of thread. He unrolled it as he went in, and followed it back out.
Because of the story, a clew came to mean anything that guides you through a difficult problem.
We still say follow the thread
of a story, or lose the thread
. French says le fil d’Ariane and perdre le fil.
The spelling changed to clue, and it became a piece of evidence that helps you solve a mystery.
Detectives look for clues: a footprint, a dropped glove, a cup of cold tea. The board game Cluedo is named after it.
If you have no thread to follow, you are lost. So I haven’t a clue
means I have no idea, and someone clueless doesn’t understand at all.
| clueless | with no idea at all |
| follow the thread | understand how a story goes on |
| lose the thread | forget where you were |
“A clue is a thread out of the maze.”