# clavis
## English
### Etymology

From Latin clāvis (“a key”). Doublet of clave and clef.

### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /ˈkleɪ.vɪs/, /ˈklɑv.ɪs/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪvɪs
* Rhymes: -ævɪs

### Noun

clavis (plural clavises or claves)
* (archaeology) A Roman key.
    Synonym: key
** 1873, “Proceedings of the Association”, in Journal of the British Archaeological Association‎, volume 29, April 9th, page 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.
* A device for restraint of the hands.
    Synonym: shackles
** 1904, B. O. Flower, “Editorials”, in B. O. Flower, editor, The Arena‎, volume 32, VI. Dr. Bell shows how hopeless insanity was a fruit of public parsimony, page 540, column 2:His hands were restrained by means of a clavis and bolt (of iron), appropriated to each wrist, and united by a padlock.
* Synonym of glossary: a key to the meaning of various terms.
** 1784 July 12, William Cowper, “To the Rev. William Unwin.”, in Robert Southey, editor, The Works of William Cowper, with a Life of the Author‎, volume 5, published 1836, page 54:Homer, with a clavis, I have had possession of some years.
* (taxonomy) 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.
    Synonyms: identification guide, conspectus, key
** 1921, Alexander Irvine, “Short Notes: Rosa spinosissima×rubiginosa×f. cantiana, forma nova”, in Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, volume 59, number 702, page 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.

#### Related terms

* clavichord

#### Translations
### References

* “clavis”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

### Anagrams

* Slavic, cavils

## Catalan
### Verb

clavis
* second-person singular present subjunctive of clavar

## Latin
### Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *klāwis. Either a secondary i-stem derivation of the Proto-Indo-European *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 dialectal Ancient Greek *κλᾱϝίς (*klāwís) (Classical κλείς (kleís)), from the same Proto-Indo-European root.

#### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈklaː.u̯is/, [ˈkɫ̪äːu̯ɪs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈkla.vis/, [ˈkläːvis]

#### Noun

clāvis f (genitive clāvis); third declension
* a key
** 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 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.
* Ellipsis of clāvis trochī.: an instrument in the form of a key, by which a top was set in motion
* a lever or bar for tightening a screw press
    Synonym: clāvis torculārī
** 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 (“a staff, cudgel, club”) or clāvus (“a nail”).

##### Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem, accusative singular in -em or -im, ablative singular in -e or -ī).

##### Derived terms

* clāvicārius
* clāvichordium
* clāvicula
* clāviger
* clāvile
* clāvis aurea
* conclāve
* sub clāve

##### Related terms

* claudō
* claustellum
* claustrārius
* claustrum
* clausula
* clausum
* clausūra
* clausus
* clāvus

##### Descendants

* Balkan Romance:
** Aromanian: cljai
** Romanian: cheie
* Dalmatian:
** cluf
* Italo-Romance:
** Italian: chiave
** Neapolitan: chiave
** Sicilian: chiavi, ciavi (alternative speling)
* Padanian:
** Gallo-Italic:
*** Emilian: ciàṿ
*** Piedmontese: ciav
*** Romagnol: cêv
** Friulian: clâf, clâv (alternative orthography)
** Istriot: ciave
** Ladin: chiëf
** Romansch: clav, clev (Puter)
** Venetan: ciave
* Gallo-Romance:
** Catalan: clau
** Franco-Provençal: cllâf
** Old French: clef (see there for further descendants)
** Occitan: clau
* Ibero-Romance:
** Aragonese: clau
    Ribagorçan: cllau
** Asturian: llave
** Old Galician-Portuguese: chave, chaue
*** Fala: chavi
*** Galician: chave
*** Portuguese: chave (see there for further descendants)
** Spanish: llave (see there for further descendants)
* Insular Romance:
** Sardinian: crae
* Borrowings:
** → English: clavis
** → Polish: klawisz
*** → Russian: клавиша (klaviša)
** → Portuguese: clave
** → Spanish: clave

#### See also

* clāva
* clāvus

#### References

* ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “clāvis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 119

#### Further reading

* “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 with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
* clavis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, 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

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Noun

clāvīs
* dative/ablative plural of clāvus

### Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Noun

clāvīs
* dative/ablative plural of clāva