Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Music A symbol indicating the pitch represented by one line of a staff, in relation to which the other pitches of the staff can be determined.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In music, a character placed upon a staff to indicate the name and pitch of one of its degrees, so that the names of the others may be known. Three clefs are in common use:
Wiktionary
- n. A symbol found on a musical staff that indicates the pitches indicated by the lines on the staff
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Mus.) A character used in musical notation to determine the position and pitch of the scale as represented on the staff.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a musical notation written on a staff indicating the pitch of the notes following it
Etymologies
- From Old French, from Latin clāvis ("a key"). (Wiktionary)
- French, key, from Old French, from Latin clāvis. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“mettre la clef sous la porte clefs en main clé à bougie la clef des champs livre à clef*”
“He had several nose jobs, his lips thinned, and chin clef put in, among other alterations.”
“I wonder if livre à clef is a 'book key' or an index?”
“In French, the clef is a key, and in English, the 'clef' is also part of the musical signature.”
“If original, it is likely that the piece was composed in the "soprano" (C1) clef versus the treble clef, meaning that the range of the piece did not stray too far from the bounds of middle-C to the D a ninth above.”
“_Mélanges d'une petite Bibliothèque_ describes a 'clef'.”
“Eighteen Acres" (the title refers to the size of the White House grounds) isn't precisely a roman a clef -- there are, for one thing, no characters who suggest George or Laura Bush or Dick Cheney -- but Wallace does seem to be having a bit of sport with two of her erstwhile colleagues.”
The Washington Post: Review of "Eighteen Acres," a political thriller by Nicolle Wallace
“She was wearing the treble clef of a nightgown and riding into the flood.”
“The roman á clef doesn't interest me at all, and with the exception of Vietnam itself, The Ha-Ha is very much a work of the imagination.”
“Georgina Bloomberg's roman a clef may reveal an intimate portrait of her rich and famous daddy under the guise of fiction.”
The Huffington Post: Len Levitt: Bronx Juries: More Woe for the NYPD
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘clef’.
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MUSIC - jazz
Afro, habanera, pentatonic scale, bop, bebop, jazz, cool jazz, pentatonic, malignment, music genre, jazz musician, syncopate and 437 more...
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MUSIC - ALL TERMS
With focus on non-classical styles, but not excluding terms of the latter.
banjo, accompaniment, acoustic bass, bass guitar, bass clef, ground, brass, cornet, Mute, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, arrangement and 866 more...
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Key
clef, coda, notch, keys, vent, bis, the key, chord, sense, cllee, flame, eden
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What's That Pokémon Name?
Words used to create the names of Pokémon, which are usually portmanteaux.
bulb, dinosaur, ivy, venus, char, salamander, squirt, turtle, blast, tortoise, water, caterpillar and 525 more...
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Really Cool Four-Letter Words
I marvel at the amazing variety of four-letter words in the English language. And that's not even counting really common (to me) words like fuck.
ibis, pelf, sofa, iota, oboe, lava, icon, sped, puha, pulp, puma, kyat and 150 more...
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Dictionary
dilettante, frostjack, perfunctory, impresario, paparazzi, pastiche, lollipop, Cymru, nub, bivouac, knapsack, hoodlum and 102 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
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clef
caprice, variation, violin, harpsichord, adagio, allegro, scherzo, opera, tenor, soprano, alto, mezzo and 62 more...
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dschimpf's Words
circuitous, interrobang, arabesque, allegory, terpsichorean, lackadaisical, belie, thaumaturgy, octothorpe, phosphoric, valence, molarity and 31 more...
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Musical Terms
Various terms, common and uncommon, relating to musical scores.
largo, andante, adagio, lento, moderato, allegro, vivace, presto, fermata, appoggiatura, acciaccatura, trill and 56 more...
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four-letter words starting with 'c'
clap, claw, cast, cart, cork, cord, care, cram, corn, cusp, cure, curt and 85 more...
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Musical Theory and Notation
Words you might find in written music
forte, piano, fortissimo, pianissimo, moderato, pizzicato, staccato, glissando, ritardando, legato, accelerando, allegro and 40 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for clef.
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