clavus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin clāvus (“a nail”). Doublet of clove.

Noun

clavus (plural clavuses or clavi)

1. A callous growth, especially on the foot; a corn.
   • 1988, Shepard R. Hurwitz, Foot and ankle pain (page 331)

     In a review of over 1000 interdigital clavuses, 65% were found in the fourth interspace, while the first and third web space clavuses were found in 17% and 16% of the patients respectively […]

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *klāwos, from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂u- (“nail, pin, hook - instruments, of old use for locking doors”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κλείς (kleís, “key”) and Old Church Slavonic ключь (ključĭ, “key”). Latin clāvis (“key”) is either a secondary i-stem derivation, or a loanword from Ancient Greek κληΐς (klēḯs).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈklaː.u̯us/, [ˈkɫ̪äːu̯ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkla.vus/, [ˈkläːvus]

Noun

clāvus m (genitive clāvī); second declension

1. a nail (metal spike)
2. rudder
3. helm (of a boat)
4. purple stripe on the tunic
5. callus, wart, tumor

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	clāvus	clāvī
Genitive	clāvī	clāvōrum
Dative	clāvō	clāvīs
Accusative	clāvum	clāvōs
Ablative	clāvō	clāvīs
Vocative	clāve	clāvī

Derived terms

• angusticlāvius
• clāvellus
• clāvicātus
• clāvulus
• clāvārius
• clāvō
• conclāvō
• *inclāvō
• lāticlāvus
• praeclavium

 

Related terms

• clāvulāris
• clāvārium
• clāvātus
• conclāvātiō
• conclāvātus
• *inclāvātus
• lāticlāvium
• lāticlāvius
• lāticlāviālis

 

Descendants

• Asturian: clavu, clau
• Catalan: clau
• English: clove
• French: clou
• Friulian: claud
• Galician: cravo
• Istriot: ciuodo
• Italian: chiavo, chiodo, clavo

• Occitan: clau
• Piedmontese: ciòv, ciò
• Portuguese: clavo, cravo
• Sardinian: crau, cravu, giau
• Sicilian: chiovu, ghiovu, ghiou
• Spanish: clavo
• Walloon: clå
• Venetian: ciodo

References

• “clavus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “clavus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• clavus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• clavus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to hold the reins of government: clavum rei publicae tenere
    
  • to steer: clavum tenere
    
• “clavus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “clavus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin