Meaning

noun (grammar) an expression including a subject and predicate but not constituting a complete sentence

noun a separate section of a legal document (as a statute or contract or will)

originFrom Middle English clause, claus, borrowed from Old French clause, from Medieval Latin clausa (Latin diminutive clausula (“close, end; a clause, close of a period”)), from Latin clausus, past participle of claudere (“to shut, close”). See close, its doublet.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0