clause
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /klɔːz/
ipa: /klɔz/
ipa: /klɑz/
homophone: claws
rhymes: -ɔːz
Forms: form: clauses
Etymology: From Middle English clause, claus, borrowed from Old French clause, from Medieval Latin clausa (Latin diminutive clausula (“close, end; a clause, close of a period”)), from Latin clausus, past participle of claudere (“to shut, close”). See close, its doublet.
Senses: examples: Near-synonyms: sentential, sentence
topics: grammar
human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: A group of words that contains a subject and a verb; it may be part of a sentence or may constitute the whole sentence, depending on the syntax in each instance.
topics: grammar
human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: A verb, its necessary grammatical arguments, and any adjuncts affecting them.
examples: text: However, Coordination facts seem to undermine this hasty conclusion: thus, consider the following:
 (43) [Your sister could go to College], but [would she get a degree?]
 The second (italicised) conjunct is a Clause containing an inverted Auxiliary, would. Given our earlier assumptions that inverted Auxiliaries are in C, and that C is a constituent of S-bar, it follows that the italicised Clause in (43) must be an S-bar. But our familiar constraint on Coordination tells us that only constituents belonging to the same Category can be conjoined. Since the second Clause in (43) is clearly an S-bar, then it follows that the first Clause must also be an S-bar — one in which the C(omplementiser) position has been left empty.
ref: 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 6, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 300:
topics: grammar
human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: A verb along with its subject and their modifiers. If a clause provides a complete thought on its own, then it is an independent (superordinate) clause; otherwise, it is dependent (subordinate). (Independent clauses can be sentences; they can also be part of a sentence. Dependent clauses can only be part of a sentence.)
examples: text: Mr. Waller adds that when the railway was authorised in 1897, one of the clauses of the Act authorising the transfer of the line to the North British Railway provided that that company should work it in perpetuity, and it was this clause that caused the interim interdict to be granted.
ref: 1951 April, “Notes and News: North Fife Line, Scotland”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 281:
topics: law
glosses: A distinct part of a contract, a will or another legal document.
topics: computing
databases
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A constituent (component) of a statement or query.
Hyponyms: sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: adverbial clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: appositive clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: comment clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: comparative clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: concessive clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: conditional clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: conditional mood
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: coordinate clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: defining relative clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: dependent clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: finite clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: hush clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: if clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: independent clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: main clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: nominal clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: nondefining relative clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: non-finite clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: object clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: relative clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: restrictive clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: subclause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: subordinate clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: superordinate clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: verbless clause
sense: types of grammatical clauses
word: vice clause
sense: part of a legal document
word: noncompete clause
Derived terms: sense: grammatical terms
word: 3-clause
sense: grammatical terms
word: clausal
sense: grammatical terms
word: clause element
sense: grammatical terms
word: clause function
sense: grammatical terms
word: content clause
sense: grammatical terms
word: subclause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: acceleration clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: attestation clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: break clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: choice of forum clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: clausehood
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: clauselike
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: cognovit clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: conscience clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: definite clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: derogatory clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: escalator clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: escape clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: establishment clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: exit clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: final clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: forum clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: forum selection clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: free-exercise clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: get-out clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: grandfather clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: guillotine clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: Henry VIII clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: Horn clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: in terrorem clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: jurisdiction clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: matrix clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: Mother Hubbard clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: multiclause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: negative clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: no-trade clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: notwithstanding clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: objective clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: objects clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: operative clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: pedigree clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: residuary clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: semiclause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: small clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: spendthrift clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: subject clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: sunrise clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: sunset clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: supplementive clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: testing clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: that clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: time clause
sense: other terms (unsorted, may also contain grammatical terms)
word: weasel clause
Related terms: close