Meanings
Origin
- Latinclāvis“a key”
- Middle Frenchclef
- Englishclef
Borrowed from Middle French clef, from Latin clāvis (“a key”). Doublet of clave and clavis.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans sleutel
- sleutelmusical symbol
Arabic مِفْتَاح مُوسِيقِيّ
- مِفْتَاح مُوسِيقِيّ (miftāḥ mūsīqiyy)musical symbol
Basque giltza
- giltzamusical symbol
Bulgarian ключ
- ключ (ključ)musical symbol
Catalan clau
- claumusical symbol
Chinese Mandarin 譜號 /谱号
- 譜號 /谱号 (pǔhào)musical symbol
Czech klíč
- klíčmusical symbol
Danish nøgle
- nøglemusical symbol
Dutch sleutel, muzieksleutel
- sleutelmusical symbol
- muzieksleutelmusical symbol
Esperanto klefo, kleo
- klefomusical symbol
- kleomusical symbol
Finnish avain, nuottiavain
- avainmusical symbol
- nuottiavainmusical symbol
- klaavimusical symbol
French clé
- clémusical symbol
German Schlüssel, Notenschlüssel
- Schlüsselmusical symbol
- Notenschlüsselmusical symbol
Greek κλειδί
- κλειδί (kleidí)musical symbol
Hungarian kulcs
- kulcsmusical symbol
Icelandic lykill
- lykillmusical symbol
Indonesian kunci musik, kunci
- kunci musikmusical symbol
- kuncimusical symbol
Irish eochair
- eochairmusical symbol
Italian chiave
- chiavemusical symbol
Japanese 音部記号
- 音部記号 (onbu kigō)musical symbol
Korean 음자리표
- 음자리표 (eumjaripyo)musical symbol
Latin clavis
- clavismusical symbol
Latvian atslēga
- atslēgamusical symbol
Lithuanian raktas
- raktasmusical symbol
Malay klef
- klefmusical symbol
Māori tohu tārawa
- tohu tārawamusical symbol
Norwegian nøkkel
- nøkkelmusical symbol
Polish klucz
- kluczmusical symbol
Portuguese clave
- clavemusical symbol
Romanian cheie
- cheiemusical symbol
Russian ключ
- ключ (ključ)musical symbol
Scottish Gaelic iuchair
- iuchairmusical symbol
Spanish clave
- clavemusical symbol
Swedish klav
- klavmusical symbol
Tagalog klep
- klepmusical symbol
Turkish nota anahtarı
- nota anahtarımusical symbol
Vietnamese khóa của âm nhạc
- khóa của âm nhạcmusical symbol
Welsh cleff
- cleffmusical symbol
Zulu ukhiye
- ukhiyemusical symbol
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with clef
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
clef. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clef
MLA
“clef.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clef. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clef,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clef.
Source: clef on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.