chave

From Middle English ichave, equivalent to ch- +‎ have, from ich + have.

chave

1. (West Country, obsolete) I have
   • 1839, An Exmoor Scolding, London: John Russell Smith, page 11:

     Chad et in my meend, and zo chave still. Bet chawnt drow et out bevore tha begen'st agen, and than chell.

• I've

• Holloway, William (1840) A General Dictionary of Provincialisms, London: John Russell Smith, page 27

• Veach

From Old Galician-Portuguese chave (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin clāvis, clāvem.

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃaβe̝/

chave f (plural chaves)

1. key (to open doors)
   • 1416, Á. Rodríguez González (ed.), Libro do Concello de Santiago (1416-1422). Santiago de Compostela: Consello da Cultura Galega, page 10:

     O dito conçello mandaron que as personas que tinan as chaves das portas da dita çidade que as fezesen çarrar cada noyte porque non viese por elas dano a a dita çidade

     Said Council ordered that the persons who had the keys to the doors of said city should made them close each night, so that no harm can come through them to said city

2. key (of musical instrument)
3. key (crucial step)
4. wrench, spanner
5. curly bracket
6. faucet, tap, water tap, spigot
7. switch (a device to turn electric current on and off or direct its flow)
8. (wrestling) hold (position or grip used to control the opponent)
9. (sports) a local sport or game

   Synonym: xogo da chave

10. type of knot

• (crucial step): clave
• (faucet, tap): billa
• (switch): interruptor

• caravilla
• chaveiro
• chavella
• clavícula

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “chave”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “chave”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “chave”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “chave”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “chave”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

See ch-.

chave

1. I have
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Kissyng and lying ich see is all one:
     And chave no mony, chul tell true therfore.

• chaue

Inherited from Latin clāvis, from Proto-Italic *klāwis, from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w-.

Cognate with Old French clef, Old Occitan clau and Old Spanish llave.

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃaβe/
• Rhymes: -aβe
• Hyphenation: cha‧ve

chave f (plural chaves)

1. key (device designed to open and close a lock)

• Fala: chavi
• Galician: chave
• Portuguese: chave (see there for further descendants)

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “chave”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “chave”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antônio Geraldo da Cunha (2020–2025) “chave”, in Vocabulário histórico-cronológico do Português Medieval (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa

From Old Galician-Portuguese chave (“key”), from Latin clāvis (“key”), from Proto-Italic *klāwis (“bolt, lock, bar”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- (“nail, pin, hook - instruments, of old use for locking doors”) (possibly through an Ancient Greek intermediate). Doublet of clave, a learned borrowing.

Cognate with Galician chave, Spanish llave, Catalan and Occitan clau, French clé, Italian chiave and Romanian cheie.

• Audio (Northern Portugal):

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• Audio (Portugal):

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• Rhymes: (Brazil) -avi, (Portugal) -avɨ
• Hyphenation: cha‧ve

chave f (plural chaves)

1. key (object that opens and closes a lock)

   Chave do portão ― Key to the gate

2. key (object that is inserted into a device and rotated to activate it)

   Chave do carro ― Car key

3. any of several tools designed to turn screws, bolts, nuts, etc., especially a spanner

   Chave de fenda/chave de fendas ― Screwdriver

4. (typography) curly bracket (name of the characters { and })

   Synonym: chaveta

   Coloque o valor entre chaves.

   Put the value between curly brackets.

5. (figurative) key (crucial step, element or requirement)

   Terminar dentro do prazo é a chave para o sucesso.

   Finishing within schedule is the key to success.

6. (figurative) keys (free access to something)
7. (computing) key; password

   Synonym: palavra-passe

8. (cryptography) key (a string used to encode or decode text)
9. (databases) key (value that identifies a row in a table)
10. (music) a key of a wind instrument
11. (music) tuning lever; tuning wrench; hammer (tool used to tune certain stringed instruments)
12. winder (key or knob used to wind a clockwork mechanism)
13. (electricity) the switch of a circuit breaker
14. (puzzles) the clue to an answer
15. (sports) group; pool (in a tournament, a set of players or team who play against one another)
16. (martial arts) joint lock
17. (rail transport) the mechanism that activates a switch
18. (architecture) the keystone of a vault
19. (music, obsolete) synonym of clave
20. (taxonomy) clavis; key (groups of information used for identifying a taxon)

    chave dicotômica/dicotómica ― dichotomous key

chave (invariable)

1. key; crucial; indispensable