valence

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See also: Valence

English[edit]

WOTD – 10 May 2023

Etymology 1[edit]

A valence diagram of methane showing that one carbon atom can combine with a maximum of four hydrogen atoms, or that it makes four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds, which means that it has a valence (sense 1.1) of four or is tetravalent.

Sense 1.1 (“combining capacity of an atom”) and sense 3 (“one-dimensional value assigned by a person to an object, situation, or state”) are borrowed from German Valenz + English -ence (suffix meaning ‘having the condition or state of’). Valenz is a clipping of Quantivalenz (“(archaic) valence in chemistry”), from English quantivalence, from Latin quantus (“how much”) + English -i- (interfix inserted between morphemes of Latin origin for ease of pronunciation) + Latin valentia (“bodily strength; health; vigour”) (whence Late Middle English valence (“medicinal preparation made from plants”);[1] ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to rule; powerful, strong”)).[2] Quantivalence was coined by F. O. Ward who communicated it to the German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818–1892), leading him to coin the German word Quantivalenz.[3]

Sense 2 (“number of arguments a verb can have”) was formed by analogy to the use of the word in chemistry: see above.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

valence (countable and uncountable, plural valences)

Examples (linguistics)
  • “It rains” – the verb rain has a valence of zero. (It is merely a dummy subject which cannot be replaced by any other subject.)
  • “He is sleeping” – sleep has a valence of one as it takes one argument.
  • “Dhannea discovered a new species of frog” – discover has a valence of two.
  • “Bob gives Alice a flower” – give has a valence of three.
  • “I bet you five dollars he’ll kill you dead” – bet has a valence of four.
  1. (countable, chemistry)
    2. The combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical determined by the number of atoms of hydrogen with which it will unite, or the number of electrons that it will gain, lose, or share when it combines with other atoms, etc. [from 1884]
      Synonyms: (historical) atomicity, (historical) quantivalence, (historical) quantivalency, valency
    3. The number of binding sites of a molecule, such as an antibody or antigen.
  3. (countable, linguistics) The number of arguments that a verb can have, including its subject, ranging from zero to three or, less commonly, four.
    Synonym: valency
    In this assignment you will analyze each of the following sentences and determine the valence of the highlighted verb.
  5. (uncountable, especially psychology) A one-dimensional value assigned by a person to an object, situation, or state, that can usually be positive (causing a feeling of attraction) or negative (repulsion). [from early 20th c.]
    anger and fear have negative valence
  6. (uncountable, sociology) The value which a person places on something.
Alternative forms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

A variant of valance.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

valence (plural valences)

  1. Alternative spelling of valance

References[edit]

  1. ^ “valence, n.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “valence, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “valence, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “quantivalence, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Czech[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

valence f

  1. (chemistry) valence, valency
    Synonym: mocenství
  2. (linguistics) valence, valency

Declension[edit]

Declension of valence (soft feminine)
singular plural
nominative valence valence
genitive valence valencí
dative valenci valencím
accusative valenci valence
vocative valence valence
locative valenci valencích
instrumental valencí valencemi

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • valence in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • valence in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
  • valence in Akademický slovník cizích slov, 1995, at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Back-formation from monovalence., etc.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

valence f (plural valences)

  1. (chemistry) valence
  2. (linguistics) valency

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

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