claver

English

Etymology 1

From Scots claver.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklævɚ/

Noun

claver (countable and uncountable, plural clavers)

1. (UK, Scotland, dialect) Frivolous or nonsensical talk; prattle; chatter.
   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 26, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     Emmy found herself entirely at a loss in the midst of their clavers.

Verb

claver (third-person singular simple present clavers, present participle clavering, simple past and past participle clavered)

1. (UK, Scotland, dialect) To gossip or chit-chat.

Etymology 2

Noun

claver (uncountable)

1. Obsolete form of clover.
   • 1636, G[eorge] S[andys], “[A Paraphrase upon the Second Booke of the Psalmes of David.] Psalme LXV.”, in A Paraphrase upon the Psalmes of David. And upon the Hymnes Dispersed throughout the Old and New Testaments, London: [Andrew Hebb […]], →OCLC, page 101:

     He Raine upon her [the Earth's] boſom poures; / His ſvvelling clouds abound vvith ſhoures: / […] / The Deſert with ſvveet claver fills; / And richly ſhades the joyfull Hills.

Anagrams

• calver, carvel

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

claver

1. (regional) to lock

Conjugation

Conjugation of claver (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	claver
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	clavant /kla.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		clavé /kla.ve/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	clave /klav/	claves /klav/	clave /klav/	clavons /kla.vɔ̃/	clavez /kla.ve/	clavent /klav/
	imperfect	clavais /kla.vɛ/	clavais /kla.vɛ/	clavait /kla.vɛ/	clavions /kla.vjɔ̃/	claviez /kla.vje/	clavaient /kla.vɛ/
	past historic2	clavai /kla.ve/	clavas /kla.va/	clava /kla.va/	clavâmes /kla.vam/	clavâtes /kla.vat/	clavèrent /kla.vɛʁ/
	future	claverai /kla.vʁe/	claveras /kla.vʁa/	clavera /kla.vʁa/	claverons /kla.vʁɔ̃/	claverez /kla.vʁe/	claveront /kla.vʁɔ̃/
	conditional	claverais /kla.vʁɛ/	claverais /kla.vʁɛ/	claverait /kla.vʁɛ/	claverions /kla.və.ʁjɔ̃/	claveriez /kla.və.ʁje/	claveraient /kla.vʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	clave /klav/	claves /klav/	clave /klav/	clavions /kla.vjɔ̃/	claviez /kla.vje/	clavent /klav/
	imperfect2	clavasse /kla.vas/	clavasses /kla.vas/	clavât /kla.va/	clavassions /kla.va.sjɔ̃/	clavassiez /kla.va.sje/	clavassent /kla.vas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	clave /klav/	—	clavons /kla.vɔ̃/	clavez /kla.ve/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Further reading

• “claver”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle English

Noun

claver

1. Alternative form of clovere

Scots

Etymology

Uncertain. Perhaps compare Gaelic clabaire (“prattler”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkleːvər/

Verb

claver (third-person singular simple present clavers, present participle claverin, simple past clavert, past participle clavert)

1. to gossip, chat idly
   • 1817, Rob Roy, Walter Scott, II.3:

     ‘he'll claver wi' her, or ony ither idle slut, rather than hear what might do him gude a' the days of his life, frae you or me, Mr. Hammorgaw, or ony ither sober and sponsible person.’

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)