Open main menu

clavis

Contents

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Latin clāvis.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

clavis ‎(plural clavises or claves)

  1. (archaeology) A Roman key.
    • 1873, "Proceedings", April 9th, Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 29: 202
      Iron clavis, the solid web-shaped at the edges to fit the wards in the lock, and having a pointed broach and a kite-formed looped haft.
  2. A device for restraint of the hands.
    • 1904, Luther V. Bell, quoted in The Arena, 32: 540
      His hands were restrained by means of a clavis and bolt (of iron), appropriated to each wrist, and united by a padlock.
  3. A glossary.
    • 1784, William Cowper, in [1836] Robert Southey (ed.), The Works of William Cowper, with a Life of the Author, volume V, page 54
      Homer, with a clavis, I have had possession of some years.
  4. (biology) A key; an identification guide; a series of logically organized groups of discriminating information which aims to allow the user to correctly identify a taxon.
    • 1921, Journal of Botany 59: 180
      There are many disadvantages in using a clavis intended for another country, which necessarily includes plants that are absent from our islands while it omits some that are present and neglects the peculiarities of our island flora.

SynonymsEdit

Related termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

glossary — see glossary

LatinEdit

clāvis (a key)

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-Italic *klāwis. Either a secondary i-stem derivation of the Proto-Indo-European root *kleh₂u- ‎(“nail, pin, hook - instruments, of old use for locking doors”) which gave also Latin clāvus ‎(“nail”), an inherited Indo-European word originally denoting an instrument for unlocking doors, or a loanword from Ancient Greek κλείς ‎(kleís).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

clāvis f ‎(genitive clāvis); third declension

  1. key
    • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita libri 24
      Post hanc orationem claves portarum pecuniaeque regiae ante pedes eorum posuit.
      After this discourse he laid the keys of the gates and of the royal treasure at their feet.
    • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Iudicum.3.25
      […] et videntes quod nullus aperiret tulerunt clavem et aperientes invenerunt dominum suum iacentem in terra mortuum
      […] and, behold, he did not open the doors; therefore they took a key and opened [the doors] to enter [but] their lord was lying dead on the ground.
  2. lever or bar for tightening a screw press

Usage notesEdit

Not to be confused with clāva ‎(“club”) or clāvus ‎(“nail”).

InflectionEdit

Third declension, alternative accusative singular in -im, alternative ablative singular in -ī and accusative plural in -īs.

Case Singular Plural
nominative clāvis clāvēs
genitive clāvis clāvium
dative clāvī clāvibus
accusative clāvem
clāvim		 clāvēs
clāvīs
ablative clāve
clāvī		 clāvibus
vocative clāvis clāvēs

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=clavis&oldid=39646320"
Read in another language
Last edited on 15 August 2016, at 01:04