clavier
Americannoun
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the keyboard of a musical instrument.
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Also klavier any musical instrument having a keyboard, especially a stringed keyboard instrument, as a harpsichord, clavichord, or piano.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of clavier
First recorded in 1700–10, and in 1835–45 clavier for def. 2; from French: literally, “keyboard,” in Old French “keyholder,” equivalent to Latin clāvi(s) “key” + -ier noun suffix; clavier def. 2 is from German Klavier, in turn from French as above see -ier 2
Explanation
A clavier is a musical instrument with a keyboard, such as a piano. Sometimes, the keyboard itself is called a clavier. The word clavier comes from the Latin clavis, meaning "key." Historically, a clavier was any stringed keyboard instrument, such as the clavichord, harpsichord, or pianoforte, in which sounds are produced when the player strikes keys that cause hammers or plucks to vibrate strings inside the instrument. In English, the word clavier most often refers to these early keyboard instruments. A famous and still-popular collection of keyboard music, The Well-Tempered Clavier, was composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in the 1720s.
Vocabulary lists containing clavier
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
