What is the Latin word for key?

The usual Latin words for “key” are clāvis, clāvicula, falsus; also abdūcō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“key” in Latin

clāvisa key; ellipsis of clāvis trochī, an instrument in the form of a key, by which a top was set in motion; a lever or bar f clāviculadiminutive of clāvis (“key”); the tendril of a vine; a bar or bolt of a door falsusdeceived, tricked, cheated, disappointed, having been deceived; mistaken, having been mistaken, having deceived myself; abdūcōto lead away or aside, take away, bring away, carry off; detach, remove; to take (with one) to dine; to take aside

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

key

clavis. Little key, clavicula. To be under lock and key, sub clavi esse; or (according to the ancient custom) sub signo et claustris esse: ☞ claves dare was to give a wife the keys as a sign of authority; hence, claves adimere, to take them away, was, she was separated from her husband. False or skeleton keys, claves adulterinae (according to some, also, claves Laconicae; Vid: Dict. of Antiquities.). Latch-keys, claves Laconicae: to take out the key, clavem eximere or abducere: to demand the keys of a town or fortress, claves portarum poscere (with Liv., 27, 24).

Entrance to anything: figuratively (α) Key of a country, janua (Cic., Mur., cum eam urbem sibi Mithridates Asiae januam fore putasset, qua effracta et revulsa tota pateret provincia): claustra (bars; and, figuratively, strong-holds). To be the key of Greece, Graecias januam esse, or Graeciae claustra tenere (Cic., contr. Rull., 32, 87, Corinthus... posita in angustiis atque in faucibus Graeciae, sic ut terra claustra locorum teneret, etc.). (β) To anything else, janua (e.g., frons, quae est animi janua, Quint., Cic., Petit. Cons., 11). To supply the key to anything, rem explanare or explicare: to have found the key to anything, rem intelligere.

Wharf [Vid: QUAY].

Power of the keys (ecclesiastical), clavium potestas (Augustin). The power of the keys was bestowed upon Peter, as the representative of the Church, *claves regni caelorum traditae Petro, Ecclesiae personam gestanti (after Augustin).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for key?: The usual Latin words for “key” are clāvis, clāvicula, falsus; also abdūcō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.