clavus Latin · revision 4908

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''clāvus''' ''m'' (genitive clāvī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*klāwo-|t=closing, barring]], from [[ine-pro|*kleh₂u-|t=to close]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) It comes from the same base as [[clāvis]] “key”, and since [[clāva]] “club” exists too, de Vaan thinks Proto-Italic *klāwo- may have been an adjective “closing off”.^(de Vaan 2008) Umbrian [[m|xum|klavlaf]], a sacrificial instrument, may be related.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[grc|κλείς|tr=kleís|t=key]] and [[cu|ключь|tr=ključĭ|t=key]].^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus uses it, in a slave's threat to have more nails than a warship.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it was a nail or rivet, as Caesar's fastening with nails, and ''clāvō trabālī fīgere'' “to fix with a beam nail” was to make firm.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Ennius, Cicero and Virgil use it of a tiller.^(OLD 2012) It was the purple stripe on a tunic, narrow for knights and broad for senators, and in medicine a callus or wart.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ In medieval Latin it was a weight for wool, a clove.^(Niermeyer 1976) Old French ''clou de girofle'' “nail of the gillyflower” gave English ''clove'', named from the shape of the bud.^(Etymonline) It survives as [[it|chiodo]], [[fr|clou]] and [[es|clavo]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of nails.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a tiller.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar fastens beams with nails.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 15th century – English ''clove'' (the spice) is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|nail]], [[m|en|rivet]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A tiller, [[m|en|helm]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A purple stripe on the tunic of knights (narrow) or senators (broad).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|callus]], wart or tumour.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A weight of wool.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[angusticlāvius]]

+ * [[clāvārius]]

+ * [[clāvō]]

+ * [[clāvulus]]

+ * [[conclāvō]]

+ * [[*inclāvō]]

+ * [[lāticlāvus]]

+ * [[praeclāuium]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[clāvārium]]

+ * [[clāvātus]]

+ * [[clāvulāris]]

+ * [[conclāvātus]]

+ * [[lāticlāviālis]]

+ * [[lāticlāvium]]

+ * [[lāticlāvius]]

+ * [[claudō]]

+ * [[clāvis]]

+ * [[clāva]]

+ * [[en|clove]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Isidore defines it as the bar by which the rudder is steered, citing Ennius.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}