Where does “Notenschlüssel” come from?

Notenschlüssel (German) comes from German note, from Latin notā — mark, sign.

Notenschlüssel (German): clef

Definitions

  1. clef

Ancestry of “Notenschlüssel”, step by step

Notenschlüssel traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German note

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germannotenote character indicating the length and pitch of a tone
2Latinnotāmark, sign

via German schlüssel

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanschlüssela key
Every word from Latin notā →Every word from German note →