clause meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

clause

noun

UK /klɔːz/ · AU, UK, NZ /kloːz/

Etymology 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.

Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences 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

Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A verb, its necessary grammatical arguments, and any adjuncts affecting them.

Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences 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 Auxiliaries are in C, and that C is a constituent of S-bar, it follows that the italicised Clause in (43) must be an S-bar. But our familiar constraint on Coordination tells us that only constituents belonging to the same Category can be conjoined. Since the second Clause in (43) is clearly an S-bar, then it follows that the first Clause must also be an S-bar — one in which the C(omplementiser) position has been left empty.1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 6, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 300:

Law 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.1951 April, “Notes and News: North Fife Line, Scotland”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 281:

Computing, Databases, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A constituent (component) of a statement or query.

Derived terms: 58 terms
3-clause, clausal, clause element, clause function, content clause, subclause, acceleration clause, adjectival clause, attestation clause, attributive clause, break clause, choice of forum clause, clausehood, clauselike, cognovit clause, conscience clause, definite clause, derogatory clause, escalator clause, escape clause, essential clause, establishment clause, exit clause, final clause, forum clause, forum selection clause, free-exercise clause, get-out clause, grandfather clause, guillotine clause, Henry VIII clause, Horn clause, in terrorem clause, jurisdiction clause, matrix clause, Mother Hubbard clause, multiclause, negative clause, no-contest clause, no-trade clause, notwithstanding clause, objective clause, objects clause, operative clause, pedigree clause, residuary clause, salvo clause, semiclause, small clause, spendthrift clause, subject clause, sunrise clause, sunset clause, supplementive clause, testing clause, that clause, time clause, weasel clause
Related terms: close
Hyponyms: 29 terms
adverbial clause, appositive clause, comment clause, comparative clause, concessive clause, conditional clause, conditional mood, coordinate clause, defining relative clause, dependent clause, finite clause, gold clause, hush clause, if clause, independent clause, main clause, nominal clause, non-defining relative clause, nonfinite clause, object clause, relative clause, restrictive clause, safety clause, subclause, subordinate clause, superordinate clause, verbless clause, vice clause, noncompete clause

clause

verb

Economics, Sciences, Shipping, Transport 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 into1970, Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee, Report of the session, number 11:
Any attempt to clause a Bill of Lading will be strenuously resisted by shippers, and they will obtain clean bills in the usual ways1978, Samir Mankabady, The Hamburg rules on the carriage of goods by sea, page 215:

2 more examples

It was held that the bills of lading presented were in this case 'clean' as they contained no reservations by way of endorsement, clausing or otherwise to suggest that the goods were defective1990, Alan Mitchelhill, Bills of lading: law and practice:
There is little authority in English law dealing with the liability of a carrier who unnecessarily clauses a bill of lading.2004, Martin Dockra with Katherine Reece Thomas, Cases & materials on the carriage of goods by sea, page 104: