Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- Grammar. a syntactic construction containing a subject and predicate and forming part of a sentence or constituting a whole simple sentence.
- a distinct article or provision in a contract, treaty, will, or other formal or legal written document.
noun
- grammar a group of words, consisting of a subject and a predicate including a finite verb, that does not necessarily constitute a sentenceSee also main clause, subordinate clause, coordinate clause
- a section of a legal document such as a contract, will, or draft statute
c.1200, “a sentence, a brief statement, a short passage,” from Old French clause “stipulation” (in a legal document), 12c., from Medieval Latin clausa “conclusion,” used in the sense of classical Latin clausula “the end, a closing, termination,” also “end of a sentence or a legal argument,” from clausa, fem. noun from past participle of claudere “to close, to shut, to conclude” (see close (v.)). Grammatical sense is from c.1300. Legal meaning “distinct condition, stipulation, or proviso” is recorded from late 14c. in English. The sense of “ending” seems to have fallen from the word between Latin and French.
A group of words in a sentence that contains a subject and predicate. (See dependent clause and independent clause.)