English
clausular
Clausular comes from Latin clausula ‘conclusion, close, end’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘key, hook, nail’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-1‘key, hook, nail’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudō1‘to close’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudō2‘shut, close’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclausus2‘closed, inaccessible’perfect passive participle of claudō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclausula3‘conclusion, close, end’
- Englishearliest quotation 1792clausular3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin claudo
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin clausula
- 3 Wiktionary, English clausular
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1792, Capel Loft, Preface: “the Accents which govern entire Members of a Period…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-Wiktionary, Latin claudo‘key, hook, nail’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudōWiktionary, Latin claudo‘to close’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudōWiktionary, Latin clausula‘shut, close’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaususWiktionary, Latin clausula‘closed, inaccessible’perfect passive participle of claudō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclausulaWiktionary, English clausular‘conclusion, close, end’
- Englishearliest quotation 1792clausularWiktionary, English clausular. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1792, Capel Loft, Preface: “the Accents which govern entire Members of a Period…”
Equivalent to clause + -ule + -ar
Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘key, hook, nail’
…
Latin clausus ‘closed, inaccessible’
Medieval Latin clausa
Old French clause
Middle English clause ‘sentence, clause’
English clause
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘key, hook, nail’
include, cataract, conclave, subclavian, 27 more
through Proto-Italic *klaudō ‘to close’
through Latin claudō ‘shut, close’
exclusive, conclusion, closet, closure, conclude, inclusion, disclose, inclusive, exclude, preclude, sluice, enclose, cloister, recluse, occlusion, claustrophobia, 27 more
through Latin clausus ‘closed, inaccessible’
Today it means
adj Consisting of, or having, clauses.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “clausular”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin claudo, Latin clausula. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- / clausular