clavus

[ kley-vuhs, klah- ]

noun,plural cla·vi [kley-vahy, -vee]. /ˈkleɪ vaɪ, -vi/.
  1. Psychiatry. an intense headache in which the pain is likened to one that would be produced by a sharp object driven into the skull.

  2. (in ancient Rome) a vertical stripe or band of purple worn on the tunic by senators and equites.

  1. Entomology. clavola.

Origin of clavus

1
1800–10; <Latin: literally, nail; akin to claudere to close

Words Nearby clavus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use clavus in a sentence

  • They appear to be the origin of the “clavus” or nail-headed pattern woven into silks in the Palace of the Cæsars.

    Needlework As Art | Marian Alford
  • I shall discuss the Latin clavus and the Chrysoclavus amongst ecclesiastical embroideries, pp. 308, 336 (post).

    Needlework As Art | Marian Alford
  • Claval suture: Hemiptera; at the base of hemelytra, separating the clavus.

  • Hysterical patients describe a sensation as if a nail were being driven into the forehead—the so-called clavus hystericus.

    Psychotherapy | James J. Walsh
  • Some of the worst cases of clavus, probably, that have ever been seen were developed in the old days of phlebotomy.