clavus

[ kley-vuhs, klah- ]

noun

, plural cla·vi [kley, -vahy, -vee].

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.
3. Entomology. clavola.

Word History and Origins

Origin of clavus¹

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

Example Sentences

The creatures aren't graceful swimmers; they’re often seen “waggling their large dorsal and anal fins to move and steering with their clavus,” according to National Geographic.

From Fox News

Somewhat magnified. sc, scutellum; co, cl, m, corium, clavus and membrane of forewing.

From Project Gutenberg

This much may be said, however: that the pain is rarely or never seated in one parietal region, as is frequently the case with migraine and with clavus.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

It is fitted with a rudder at the stern, and we may therefore conclude that at this period the side-rudder, or clavus, had disappeared from all important vessels.

From Project Gutenberg