English

Noun

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.

Synonyms

• (Roman key): key
• (device for restraint): shackles
• (glossary): glossary, idioticon, vocabulary
• (identification guide): conspectus, key

Related terms

• clavichord

Translations

Catalan

Verb

clavis

1. second-person singular present subjunctive form of clavar

Latin

clāvis (a key)

Etymology

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).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈklaː.wis/

Noun

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 **** press
   • 234 BCE – 149 BCE, Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura 13

     […] seriam vinariam unam, clavem torculari I […]

Usage notes

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

Inflection

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

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

See also

• clavis on the Latin Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^la
• clāva
• clāvus

References

• clavis in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• clavis in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• CLAVIS in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “clavis”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• clavis in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• clavis in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin