# clave
## English
### Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kleɪv/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪv

#### Verb

clave
* (archaic) simple past and past participle of cleave
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 22:3:And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ruth 1:14:And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
** 1868, Thomas Malory, chapter 11, in Le Morte D'Arthur:Sir Launcelot put his shield afore him, and put the stroke away of the one giant, and with his sword he clave his head asunder.
** 1917, H. P. Lovecraft, The Tomb:Suddenly a peal of thunder, resonant even above the din of the swinish revelry, clave the very roof and laid a hush of feat upon the boisterous company.

### Etymology 2

From Spanish clave, from Latin clāvis (“key”). Doublet of clavis and clef.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈklɑːveɪ/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɑːveɪ

#### Noun

clave (plural claves)
* singular of claves

#### Noun

clave (plural claves)
* (music) A characteristic pattern of beats, especially the 3-2 son clave.

#### See also

* Clave (rhythm) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* calve

## Asturian
### Verb

clave
* first/third-person singular present subjunctive of clavar

## Italian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈkla.ve/
* Rhymes: -ave
* Hyphenation: clà‧ve

### Noun

clave f
* plural of clava

### Anagrams

* calve

## Latin
### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈklaː.u̯e/, [ˈkɫ̪äːu̯ɛ]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈkla.ve/, [ˈkläːve]

### Noun

clāve
* ablative singular of clāvis

### Noun

clāve
* vocative singular of clāvus

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin clāvem. Doublet of chave.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈkla.vi/
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈkla.vi/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈkla.ve/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈkla.vɨ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈkla.vɨ/
** (Northern Portugal) IPA: /ˈkla.bɨ/ [ˈkla.βɨ]
* Rhymes: -avi, -avɨ
* Hyphenation: cla‧ve

### Noun

clave f (plural claves)
* (music) clef (symbol)
* juggling club

### References

* ↑ “clave”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* ↑ “clave”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈklabe/ [ˈkla.β̞e]
* Audio (Colombia):(file)
* Rhymes: -abe
* Syllabification: cla‧ve

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin clāvis (“key”). Compare the inherited doublet llave.

#### Noun

clave f (plural claves)
* (figurative) key (to a problem or puzzle)
** 2019 April 2, Ricardo Baixeras, “'Mañana tendremos otros nombres' : las grietas del amor”, in El Periódico‎:Un texto enormemente sugerente sobre los tiempos actuales y venideros, sobre lo que nos configura, sobre los nuevos roles de la masculinidad y la feminidad y sobre la velocidad como clave de lectura de las relaciones, una velocidad que como quería Ralph Waldo Emerson, cuando uno patina sobre hielo fino, es la salvación.(please add an English translation of this quotation)
* password
    Synonym: contraseña
    clave WiFi ― WiFi password
* code
* (music) clef
* (music) clave

##### Derived terms

* clave de sol
* intercambio de claves

##### Related terms

* llave

##### Descendants

* → English: clave

#### Adjective

clave m or f (masculine and feminine plural clave or claves)
* key (important)
    Synonym: importante

##### Derived terms

* palabra clave

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

clave
* inflection of clavar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** third-person singular imperative

### Further reading

* “clave”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10