![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordcheville (shuh-VEE) - n., a word or phrase whose only function is to fill a metrical gap or make a sentence balanced.
Generally, either with little to no meaning or just repeating what's already been said. These are common in oral traditions (a lot of Homeric epithets can be considered chevilles) but by no means restricted to them. Adopted in the 19th century from French, where it's literally a peg or plug, with the latter sense being operative; that in turn is from Latin clāvīcula, key/pivot/peg, from a Proto-Indoeuropean root.
---L.
Generally, either with little to no meaning or just repeating what's already been said. These are common in oral traditions (a lot of Homeric epithets can be considered chevilles) but by no means restricted to them. Adopted in the 19th century from French, where it's literally a peg or plug, with the latter sense being operative; that in turn is from Latin clāvīcula, key/pivot/peg, from a Proto-Indoeuropean root.
---L.
