clava

See also: clavá and clavà

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin clāva (“club, staff, knotty branch”).

Noun

clava (plural clavas)

1. Synonym of gracile tubercle.
2. (entomology) The fused distal segments of the antenna of a chalcid wasp.

   Synonym: club

Related terms

• clavate
• clavula

Anagrams

• Calva, calva, caval

Asturian

Verb

clava

1. inflection of clavar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [ˈkla.βə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈkla.və]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈkla.va]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [ˈkla.βa]

Verb

clava

1. inflection of clavar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin clāva (“club”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkla.va/
• Rhymes: -ava
• Hyphenation: clà‧va

Noun

clava f (plural clave)

1. club
2. (sports) Indian club

Anagrams

• calva, valca

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *klāwā, from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat, break”). Cognate with Latin clādes, percellō, gladius. Unrelated to clavicula, clavis or clavus.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

clāva f (genitive clāvae); first declension

1. a club, cudgel

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	clāva	clāvae
genitive	clāvae	clāvārum
dative	clāvae	clāvīs
accusative	clāvam	clāvās
ablative	clāvā	clāvīs
vocative	clāva	clāvae

Related terms

• clāvula
• clavator

Descendants

• → Italian: clava
• → Portuguese: clava
• → Spanish: clava

References

• “clava”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “clava”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "clava", 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)
• “clava”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “clava”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “clava”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin clāva (“club”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkla.vɐ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkla.vɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkla.vɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkla.bɐ/ [ˈkla.βɐ]

• Rhymes: -avɐ, (Northern Portugal) -abɐ
• Hyphenation: cla‧va

Noun

clava f (plural clavas)

1. club (weapon)

   Synonyms: porrete, cacete, maça

Further reading

• “clava”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “clava”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklaba/ [ˈkla.β̞a]
• Rhymes: -aba
• Syllabification: cla‧va

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin clāva (“club”).

Noun

clava f (plural clavas)

1. club (weapon)

   Synonyms: cachiporra, porra, maza

Etymology 2

Verb

clava

1. inflection of clavar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “clava”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025