Plural of clavus; a medical term for painful corns or calluses on the foot, or in anatomy, a spike-like projection.
From Latin 'clavus,' meaning literally 'nail' or 'spike.' The term was used medically to describe foot conditions that resembled nails driven into flesh.
Medieval physicians looked at corns and thought they looked like small nails—the word 'clavus' stuck, and even today in some medical contexts you'll hear painful foot conditions described with this ancient Latin term.
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