clause Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (grammar) an expression including a subject and predicate but not constituting a complete sentence
  2. noun a separate section of a legal document (as a statute or contract or will)
    article.

WordNet

Clause noun
Etymology
F. clause, LL. clausa, equiv. to L. clausula clause, prop., close of rhetorical period, close, fr. claudere to shut, to end. See Close.
Definitions
  1. A separate portion of a written paper, paragraph, or sentence; an article, stipulation, or proviso, in a legal document.
    The usual attestation clause to a will. Bouvier.
  2. (Gram.) A subordinate portion or a subdivision of a sentence containing a subject and its predicate.
Clause noun
Definitions
Obs.
  1. See Letters clause ∨ close, under Letter.

Webster 1913