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clāvus , i, m. root klu-, v. claudo; prop. that which shuts or fastens.
I. A nail, usually of metal.
A. Lit.: “offerumentas habebis pluris Quam ulla navis longa clavos,Plaut. Rud. 3, 4, 48: “(leges) ad parietem fixae clavis ferreis,id. Trin. 4, 3, 32; so, “clavi ferrei,Cato, R. R. 18 fin.; Caes. B. G. 3, 13; Vitr. 7, 3 al.—Sometimes of hard wood: “clavis corneis occludere,Cato, R. R. 18 fin.: “cornus... lignum utile, si quid cuneandum sit in ligno clavisve figendum ceu ferreis,Plin. 16, 40, 76, § 206: “clavis religare tigna,Caes. B. C. 2, 10: “clavos per modica intervalla figentes,Liv. 28, 20, 4.— “Acc. to a Tuscan usage the ancient Romans designated the number of the year by nails, which the highest magistrate annually, at the Ides of September, drove into the wall of Jupiter's temple: clavo ab dictatore fixo,Liv. 7, 3, 3 sqq.; 8, 18, 12 sq.; 9, 28, 6: clavus annalis, Paul. ex Fest. p. 56, 10 Müll.; cf. “O. Müll. Etrusk. 2, p. 329 sq., and Dict. of Antiq. p. 263. Also, in a later age, country people seem to have kept an account of the years in this way,Petr. 135, 8, 9.—Prov.: clavo clavum eicere, to drive out one nail by another (Gr. ἥλῳ τὸν ἧλον, παττάλῳ τὸν πάτταλον, sc. δεῖ ἐξελαύνειν): “novo quidam amore veterem amorem tamquam clavo clavum eiciendum putant,Cic. Tusc. 4, 35, 75: aliquid trabali clavo figere, to fasten with a large nail, to clinch a matter, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 21, § 53; Arn. 2, p. 51.—
2. As a symbol of immovable firmness: “Necessitas Clavos trabales Gestans,Hor. C. 1, 35, 18: “si figit adamantinos Necessitas Clavos,id. ib. 3, 24, 7; cf. O. Müll. as above cit., p. 331.—Hence,
B. Trop.: “ex hoc die clavum anni movebis,” i. e. reckon the beginning of the year, Cic. Att. 5, 15, 1: “fixus animus clavo Cupidinis,Plaut. As. 1, 3, 4.—Prov.: “beneficium trabali clavo figere (v. trabalis),Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 21, § 53 Zumpt; cf. Arn. 2, p. 51.—
II. Meton. of objects of like form.
A. (Lit. the handle of the rudder, the tiller; hence, pars pro toto.) The rudder, helm, in gen. (only sing.): ut clavum rectum teneam, Enn. ap. Isid. Orig. 19, 2, 12 (Ann. v. 472 Vahl.): “clavum ad litora torquere,Verg. A. 5, 177 Serv.; 10, 218.—
b. Trop.: “clavum tanti imperii tenere et gubernacula rei publicae tractare,Cic. Sest. 9, 20: “abicere,to leave off the care of a thing, Arn. 3, 106: dum clavum rectum teneam, if I keep a steady helm, am not negligent (as in Gr. ὀρθὰν τὰν ναῦν), Quint. 2, 17, 24 Spald.; cf. the passage of Enn. supra. —
B. In medic. lang., a painful tumor or excrescence, a wart, a corn; on the feet, Cels. 5, 28, 14. clavis in pedibus mederi, Plin. 20, 17, 71, § 184; 22, 23, 49, § 101 sq.; 26, 11, 66, § 106; 28, 16, 62, § 222; “on the eye,Cels. 6, 7, 12; “in the nose,Plin. 24, 14, 77, § 126; “upon the neck of cattle,Col. 6, 14, 6; “in sheep,id. 7, 5, 11.—Also a disease of the olive-tree, Plin. 17, 24, 37, § 223.—
C. A kind of abortion of bees, Plin. 11, 16, 16, § 50.—
D. A purple stripe on the tunica, which, for senators, was broad (latus, cf. laticlavius); for the equites, narrow (angustus; cf. “angusticlavius). In the time of the emperors, however, the sons of the senators and equites also, who were preparing for civil office, wore the latus clavus,Liv. 9, 7, 9; Varr. L. L. 9, § 79 Müll.; Ov. Tr. 4, 10, 29 Jahn; cf. Hor. S. 1, 5, 36; 1, 6, 28; Quint. 11, 3, 138; Vell. 2, 88, 2; Suet. Aug. 94: tunicam ita consuere, ut altera plagula sit angustis clavis, altera latis, Varr L. L. 9, § 47 Müll.—Hence the phrase: latum clavum ab Caesare impetravi, i. e. I have become senator, Plin. Ep. 2, 9, 2; cf.: “clavum alicui tribuere,Suet. Claud. 24: “impetrare,id. Vesp. 4: “adimere,id. Tib. 35: “adipisci,id. Vesp. 2.—Rarely a purple stripe on bed or table cloths, Amm. 16, 8, 8.—
2. Poet., a tunic, in gen., either wide or narrow striped: “mutare in horas,Hor. S. 2, 7, 10: “sumere depositum,id. ib. 1, 6, 25.
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hide References (30 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (30):
    • Cicero, Letters to Atticus, 5.15.1
    • Caesar, Gallic War, 3.13
    • Cicero, Against Verres, 2.5.53
    • Cicero, For Sestius, 9.20
    • Plautus, Rudens, 3.4
    • Plautus, Trinummus, 4.3
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 5.177
    • Suetonius, Divus Augustus, 94
    • Suetonius, Divus Vespasianus, 2
    • Horace, Satires, 1.5.36
    • Horace, Satires, 2.7.10
    • Vitruvius, On Architecture, 7.3
    • Caesar, Civil War, 2.10
    • Plautus, Asinaria, 1.3
    • Suetonius, Divus Claudius, 24
    • Suetonius, Tiberius, 35
    • Suetonius, Divus Vespasianus, 4
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 11.50
    • Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, 2.9.2
    • A. Cornelius Celsus, De Medicina, 5.28
    • A. Cornelius Celsus, De Medicina, 6.7
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 9, 7
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 28, 20.4
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 7, 3
    • Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, 4.35
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 2, 17.24
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 11, 3.138
    • Ovid, Tristia, 4.10
    • Columella, Res Rustica, 6.14.6
    • Columella, Res Rustica, 7.5.11
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