clef
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French clef, from Latin clāvis (“a key”).
Pronunciation
Noun
clef (plural clefs)
- A symbol found on a musical staff that indicates the pitches represented by the lines and the spaces on the staff [from 16th c.]
Derived terms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
musical symbol
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French
Etymology
See clé.
Pronunciation
Noun
clef f (plural clefs)
- Alternative spelling of clé (“key”)
- (music) clef
- (heraldry) key; the device as shown on a coat of arms
Derived terms
Further reading
- “clef”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French clef.
Noun
clef f (plural clefs)
Adjective
clef m or f (invariable)
- key (vitally important)
Descendants
Old French
Etymology
From Latin clāvis, clāvem (“a key”).
Pronunciation
Noun
clef oblique singular, f (oblique plural cles, nominative singular clef, nominative plural cles)
Descendants
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Middle French
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)kleh₂w-
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛf
- Rhymes:English/ɛf/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Music
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- Rhymes:French/e
- French terms with homophones
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns
- fr:Music
- fr:Heraldic charges
- Middle French terms inherited from Old French
- Middle French terms derived from Old French
- Middle French lemmas
- Middle French nouns
- Middle French feminine nouns
- Middle French countable nouns
- Middle French adjectives
- Old French terms inherited from Latin
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French feminine nouns