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
- clavierist noun
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 -ier 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But church elders reined in Antes when he tried to add keyboarding instruments, called claviers, to his product line, according to a passage in the 1762 minutes of “Bethlehem Elder Conference” that Shatto cited.
From Washington Times
The title of his famous collection of fugues, 'The Well-Tempered Clavier', does not allude to his clavier's behaviour.
From Nature
He played the clavier and the harpsichord both.
From The Guardian
As the historian Paul Johnson recounts in Mozart: A Life, Mozart began playing the clavier at age 4 and was composing at 5.
From Scientific American
The elevator does not go to the clavier cabin.
From New York Times
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.
