Adjacent Words

Clef definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CLEF, n. A character in music placed at the beginning of a stave, to determine the degree of elevation occupied by that stave in the general claviary or system, and to point out the names of all the notes which it contains in the line of that clef.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a musical notation written on a staff indicating the pitch of the notes following it

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: French, literally, key, from Old French, from Latin clavis — more at clavicle Date: circa 1577 a sign placed at the beginning of a musical staff to determine the pitch of the notes

Britannica Concise

(French: "key") Musical-notation symbol at the beginning of a staff to indicate the pitch of the notes on the staff. Clefs were originally letters, identifying letter-named pitches, that were affixed to one or more of the staff's lines (thus providing a "key" to their identity). Knowing the identity of a single line permitted the musician to identify all the other lines and spaces above and below. Clefs were first regularly used in the 12th cent. The Gothic letter forms of G and F evolved into the modern treble and bass clefs, respectively; the letter C evolved into the rarer alto, tenor, baritone, and soprano clefs.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. Mus. any of several symbols placed at the beginning of a staff, indicating the pitch of the notes written on it. Etymology: F f. L clavis key

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Clef Clef (kl[e^]f; 277), n. [F. clef key, a key in music, fr. L. clavis key. See Clavicle.] (Mus.) A character used in musical notation to determine the position and pitch of the scale as represented on the staff. Note: The clefs are three in number, called the C, F, and G clefs, and are probably corruptions or modifications of these letters. They indicate that the letters of absolute pitch belonging to the lines upon which they are placed, are respectively C, F, and G. The F or bass clef, and the G or treble clef, are fixed in their positions upon the staff. The C clef may have three positions. It may be placed upon the first or lower line of the staff, in which case it is called soprano clef, upon the third line, in which case it called alto clef, or upon the fourth line, in which case tenor clef. It rarely or never is placed upon the second line, except in ancient music. See other forms of C clef under C, 2. Alto clef, Bass clef. See under Alto, Bass.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(clefs) A clef is a symbol at the beginning of a line of music that indicates the pitch of the written notes. N-COUNT