clavis Latin · revision 2975

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *kleh₂u-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkɫaː.wɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈklaː.vis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''clāvis''' ''f'' (genitive clāvis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*klāwi-|t=bar, bolt]], [[inh|ine-pro|*kleh₂u-|t=to close; hook, peg]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan explains both the i-stem [[m|la|clāvis]] and the o-stem [[clavus|alt=clāvus]] “nail” as Latin formations from an older noun *klāw-.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The TLL left open whether it was borrowed from Greek.^(TLL)

+

+ Cognate with [[grc|κλείς|tr=kleís|t=bar, key]], [[gmy|ka-ra-wi-po-ro|t=key-bearer]] and [[ru|ключ|tr=ključ|t=key]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who has someone hand over the keys with “take the keys: if you need anything, help yourself”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a door [[m|en|key]], and Cato also used it for the bar that turns the screw of a press.^(OLD 2012) To be ''sub clavi'' was to be under lock and key, and taking back the keys from a wife (''claves adimere'') meant divorcing her.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Georges 1913) Tertullian spoke of “the key of knowledge”.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Medieval Latin used it for a lock, for the validation of a document by a seal, for the formula used to work out the dates of movable feasts, and in music for a [[m|en|clef]].^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary) Music theorists also used it for a note, a key of an instrument and a mode.^(LmL) It survives in all the Romance languages, as Romanian ''cheie'', Italian ''chiave'', French ''clef'' and Spanish ''llave''.^(DÉRom)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for a door key.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for the bar of a press.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses ''claves adimere'' for divorcing a wife.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian speaks of the key of knowledge.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1013 – A Catalan charter uses it for a strip of land reaching into a neighbouring estate.^(GMLC)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|key]] (of a door).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A bar or lever for turning the screw of a press.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A bar, bolt.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|lock]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Validation by a [[m|en|seal]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A formula for finding the dates of movable feasts.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, music)'' A [[m|en|clef]]; a note; a key (of an instrument).^(Niermeyer 1976)^(LmL)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[clāvicārius]]

+ * [[clāvichordium]]

+ * [[clāvicula]]

+ * [[clāviger]]

+ * [[clāvile]]

+ * [[conclāve]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[claudō]]

+ * [[claustellum]]

+ * [[claustrārius]]

+ * [[claustrum]]

+ * [[clausula]]

+ * [[clausum]]

+ * [[clausūra]]

+ * [[clausus]]

+ * [[clāvus]]

+ * [[clāva]]

+ * [[en|clef]]

+ * [[en|conclave]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}