clef

• cliff (obsolete)

Borrowed from Old French clef, from Latin clāvis (“a key”).

• Rhymes: -ɛf

clef (plural clefs)

1. A symbol found on a musical staff that indicates the pitches indicated by the lines and the spaces on the staff

• clave

See clé.

• IPA^(key): /kle/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Homophones: clé, clefs, clés

clef f (plural clefs)

1. Alternative spelling of clé (“key”)
2. (music) clef
3. (heraldry) key; the device as shown on a coat of arms

• fermer à clef

• “clef” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

From Old French clef.

clef f (plural clefs)

1. key

clef m or f (invariable)

1. key (vitally important)

• French: clef, clé

From Latin clāvis, clāvem (“a key”).

clef f (oblique plural cles, nominative singular clef, nominative plural cles)

1. key

• English: clef
• Middle French: clef
  • French: clef, clé
• Gallo: tié
• Norman: clié