clavus

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

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• Rhymes: -eɪvəs

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 […]

Compare Claviceps; the young grain is malformed and club-shaped.

clavus (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Synonym of ergot.
   • 1817, The Analectic Magazine, page 186:

     The clavus, or ergot of grain, consists in the enlargement and elongation of the seeds […]

From Proto-Italic *klāwos, from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w-o-s, from *kleh₂u- (“nail, pin, hook - instruments, of old use for locking doors”).^[1] 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).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkɫaː.wʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈklaː.vus]

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

Second-declension noun.

• “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, 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
• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911), “clavus”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 158
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “clavus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 2: C Q K, page 768

Borrowed from French clavus or Latin clavus.

clavus n (plural clavusuri)

1. clavus