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PORTUGUESE · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

chave.

key (object that opens and closes a lock)

5 characters2 syllables approx.Português language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈʃa.vi/Brazil/ˈʃa.vɨ/Portugal/ˈt͡ʃa.bɨ/Northern, Portugal[ˈt͡ʃa.βɨ]Northern, Portugal
  1. key (object that opens and closes a lock)

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

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

    feminine
    Chave de fenda/chave de fendas
  4. curly bracket (name of the characters { and })

    feminine
    Coloque o valor entre chaves.
  5. key (crucial step, element or requirement)

    feminine · figuratively
    Terminar dentro do prazo é a chave para o sucesso.
  6. keys (free access to something)

    feminine · figuratively
  7. key; password

    feminine
  8. key (a string used to encode or decode text)

    feminine
  9. key (value that identifies a row in a table)

    feminine
  10. a key of a wind instrument

    feminine
  11. tuning lever; tuning wrench; hammer (tool used to tune certain stringed instruments)

    feminine
  12. winder (key or knob used to wind a clockwork mechanism)

    feminine
  13. the switch of a circuit breaker

    feminine
  14. the clue to an answer

    feminine
  15. group; pool (in a tournament, a set of players or team who play against one another)

    feminine
  16. joint lock

    feminine
  17. the mechanism that activates a switch

    feminine
  18. the keystone of a vault

    feminine
  19. synonym of clave

    feminine · obsolete
  20. clavis; key (groups of information used for identifying a taxon)

    feminine
    chave dicotômica/dicotómica
Where this word comes from

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.

adj/ˈʃa.vi/Brazil/ˈʃa.vɨ/Portugal/ˈt͡ʃa.bɨ/Northern, Portugal[ˈt͡ʃa.βɨ]Northern, Portugal
  1. key; crucial; indispensable

    invariable
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.