CLAVICYMBALUM, in Antiquity, a musical instrument of thirty strings. Modern writers apply the name to our harpsichords.
CLAVIVESTIUM were flowers or studs of purple, interwoven with or sewed upon the garments of knights or senators; but, for distinction, the former used them narrow, and the latter broad.
CLAVIS properly signifies a key, and is sometimes used in English to denote an explanation of some obscure passages of any book in writing.