. (Law) A clause, as in a blanket mortgage or policy, that includes a group or class of things, rather than a number mentioned individually and having the burden, loss, or the like, apportioned among them. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F. clause, LL. clausa, equiv. to L. clausula clause, prop., close of &unr_; rhetorical period, close, fr. claudere to shut, to end. See Close. ] 1. A separate portion of a written paper, paragraph, or sentence; an article, stipulation, or proviso, in a legal document. [ 1913 Webster ]

The usual attestation clause to a will. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gram.) A subordinate portion or a subdivision of a sentence containing a subject and its predicate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Obs. ] See Letters clause or Letters close, under Letter. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Diplomacy), A clause, often inserted in treaties, by which each of the contracting nations binds itself to grant to the other in certain stipulated matters the same terms as are then, or may be thereafter, granted to the nation which receives from it the most favorable terms in respect of those matters. It is used most frequently in treaties regarding the terms of trade between countries, as regarding tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

There was a “most-favored-nation” clause with provisions for the good treatment of strangers entering the Republic. James Bryce. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Steam navigation was secured by the Japanese as far as Chungking, and under the most-favored-nation clause the right accrued to us. A. R. Colquhoun. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A clause sometimes inserted in contracts or specifications, requiring that a material of construction, as cement, must be of a brand that has stood the test of a specified number of years' use in an important public work. [ Cant, U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]