Definition of "clavier" [cla•vi•er]

• Music A keyboard. (noun)
• Music A stringed keyboard instrument, such as a harpsichord. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Teaching is a restless occupation and I would rather neglect clavier playing than composition; the clavier is a side issue, though, thank God, a strong one. ""
• "Mr. Scriabin's design for the clavier à lumi è re, she says, called for a particular color to be assigned to each note, but in practice if we changed color every time there was a note change that would be much too busy."
• "While "Mysterium" has baffled subsequent generations, his "Prometheus" for orchestra and clavier à lumi è re — a kind of organ that would project colored lights onto walls — has inspired a succession of performers to realize a vision Mr. Scriabin himself never saw fulfilled."