clause

English · Français · Deutsch · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

clause^¹

/klɔːz/ UK
/kloːz/ Australia, British, New Zealand
/klɔz/ US
/klɑz/ US, cot caught merger
/klɔz/ Scotland
[klɔːz] Scotland

Sounds like claws · Rhymes with -ɔːz

Where it comes from

From Middle English clause, claus, borrowed from Old French clause, from Medieval Latin clausa (Latin diminutive clausula (“close, end; a clause, close of a period”)), from Latin clausus, past participle of claudere (“to shut, close”). See close, its doublet.

noun clauses

A group of words that contains a subject and a verb; it may be part of a sentence or may constitute the whole sentence, depending on the syntax in each instance. Near-synonyms: sentential, sentence
Similar: sentential, sentence
A verb, its necessary grammatical arguments, and any adjuncts affecting them.
A verb along with its subject and their modifiers. If a clause provides a complete thought on its own, then it is an independent (superordinate) clause; otherwise, it is dependent (subordinate). (Independent clauses can be sentences; they can also be part of a sentence. Dependent clauses can only be part of a sentence.) However, Coordination facts seem to undermine this hasty conclusion: thus, consider the following: (43) [Your sister could go to College], but [would she get a degree?] The second (italicised) conjunct is a Clause containing an inverted Auxiliary, would. Given our earlier assumptions that inverted
A distinct part of a contract, a will or another legal document. Mr. Waller adds that when the railway was authorised in 1897, one of the clauses of the Act authorising the transfer of the line to the North British Railway provided that that company should work it in perpetuity, and it was this clause that caused the interim interdict to be granted.
A constituent (component) of a statement or query.

verb clauses · clausing · claused

transitive To amend (a bill of lading or similar document). The question of clausing the bills of lading, so as to avoid "dirtying", which impairs its negotiability, may also be looked into

Clause^²

proper noun Clauses

A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: article, condition, subparagraph, expression, phrase, point, item, guideline, paragraph, subsection, requirement, rule, proviso, arrangement, prerequisite, caveat

Translations

Every language

noun grammar: group of words which include a subject and any necessary predicate

日本語	節 setsu
中文	從句 /从句 cóngjù, 小句 xiǎojù
Português	oração
Français	proposition
Deutsch	Nebensatz
Italiano	proposizione
Tiếng Việt	vế câu, mệnh đề
العربية	مُرَكَّبٌ إِسْنَادِيّ murakkabun ʔisnādiyy
עברית	פסוקית psukít

noun grammar: verb along with a subject and modifiers

日本語	節 setsu
中文	分句 fēnjù
Português	oração
Français	proposition
Deutsch	Teilsatz
Русский	предложе́ние predložénije
العربية	جُمْلَة jumla

noun legal: separate part of a contract

Español	cláusula
Português	cláusula, artigo
Français	clause
Deutsch	Klausel
Italiano	clausola
Ελληνικά	ρήτρα rítra, όρος óros
Русский	пункт punkt
Tiếng Việt	điều khoản, điều
العربية	بَنْد band
עברית	סעיף seíf

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"clause." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/clause. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

clause. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/clause

Chicago

"clause." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/clause.

BibTeX

@misc{clause_2026,
  title = {clause},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/clause},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}