Etymograph

English

clavicle

Clavicle comes from Latin clāvicula ‘a small key’, from Proto-Italic *klāwis ‘bolt, lock, bar’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂u- ‘nail, pin, hook - instruments, of old use for…’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂u-1‘nail, pin, hook - instruments, of old use for locking doors’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klāwis1‘bolt, lock, bar’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclāvis2‘a key’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclāvicula2‘a small key’diminutive of clāvis
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600clavicule2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1752clavicle2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin clavis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English clavicle
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1752, John Hill, Voluta: “The Voluta is a ſimple ſhell, having no hinge,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂u-Wiktionary, Latin clavis‘nail, pin, hook - instruments, of old use for locking doors’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klāwisWiktionary, Latin clavis‘bolt, lock, bar’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclāvisWiktionary, English clavicle‘a key’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclāviculaWiktionary, English clavicle‘a small key’diminutive of clāvis
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600claviculeWiktionary, English clavicle
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1752clavicleWiktionary, English clavicle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1752, John Hill, Voluta: “The Voluta is a ſimple ſhell, having no hinge,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂u- ‘nail, pin, hook - instruments, of old use for…’

conclusion, enclosure, 9 more

through Latin clāvis ‘a key’

enclave, conclave, clef, clave, 7 more

through Latin clāvicula ‘a small key’

subclavian, 2 more

Today it means

noun The collarbone; the prominent bone at the top of the chest between the shoulder and the neck connecting the shoulder and the breastbone.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “clavicle”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin clavis. 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 *kleh₂u- / clavicle

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