valence

See also: Valence

English

Etymology 1

In the sense “extract, preparation”, from Latin valentia (“strength, capacity”) (1425). The now-current sense of “combining capacity (of an atom)” is from German Valenz (1884), from the same Latin word. The linguistic definition was formed in analogy to its use in chemistry. The sense “one-dimensional value” used in psychology is also from German Valenz (1935).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈveɪləns/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Noun

valence (countable and uncountable, plural valences)

1. (chemistry, medicine, obsolete) An extract; a preparation, now especially one effective against a certain number of strains of a pathogen.
3. (chemistry) The combining capacity of an atom, radical or functional group determined by the number of electrons that it will lose, gain, or share when it combines with other atoms etc. [from 1884]

   Synonym: valency

4. (chemistry) The number of binding sites of a molecule, such as an antibody or antigen.
6. (linguistics) The number of arguments that a verb can have, including its subject, ranging from zero (for the likes of "It rains") to three (for the likes of "Bob gives Alice a flower") or, less commonly, four.

   Synonym: valency

   The number of bonds that a verb has constitutes what we will call the valence of the verb.

8. (especially psychology) A one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state, that can usually be positive or negative. [from 1935]

   anger and fear have negative valence

9. (sociology) Value.

Alternative forms

• valency (mostly UK)

Derived terms

• ambivalence
• equivalence
• polyvalence
• primary valence
• secondary valence
• social valence
• valence electron
• valence shell

 

Related terms

• valent
• -valent

Translations

chemistry: combining capacity

• Bulgarian: валентност (bg) f (valentnost)
• Catalan: valència (ca) f
• Dutch: valentie (nl) f
• Finnish: valenssi (fi)
• French: valence (fr) f
• Georgian: ვალენტობა (valenṭoba)
• German: Valenz (de) f, Wertigkeit (de) f
• Greek: σθένος (el) n (sthénos)

• Italian: valenza (it) f
• Kazakh: валенттілік (valenttılık)
• Polish: wartościowość f
• Portuguese: valência (pt) f
• Romanian: valență (ro) f
• Russian: вале́нтность (ru) f (valéntnostʹ)
• Spanish: valencia (es) f

chemistry: number of binding sites of a molecule

• Bulgarian: валенция f (valencija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 化合价 (zh) (huàhéjià), 原子价 (zh) (yuánzǐjià), 价 (zh) (jià)

• Esperanto: valento sg
• Finnish: valenssi (fi)
• French: valence (fr) f
• Georgian: ვალენტობა (valenṭoba)
• German: Valenz (de) f
• Kazakh: валенттілік (valenttılık)

• Polish: wartościowość f
• Portuguese: valência (pt) f
• Romanian: valență (ro) f
• Russian: вале́нтность (ru) f (valéntnostʹ)
• Tagalog: kalwing

linguistics: number of arguments that a verb can have

• Dutch: valentie (nl) f
• Finnish: valenssi (fi)
• French: valence (fr) f
• Georgian: ვალენტობა (valenṭoba)
• Greek: σθένος (el) n (sthénos)
• Italian: valenza (it) f

• Kazakh: валенттілік (valenttılık)
• Polish: walencja (pl) f
• Portuguese: valência (pt) f
• Romanian: valență (ro) f
• Russian: вале́нтность (ru) (valéntnostʹ)
• Ukrainian: вале́нтність (uk) (valéntnistʹ)

psychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state

• Finnish: valenssi (fi), tunnearvo

• German: Wertigkeit (de) f, Valenz (de) f

sociology: value

• German: Wert (de) m, Wertigkeit (de) f, Valenz (de) f
• Polish: walencja (pl) f

• Romanian: valență (ro) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Czech: ^{(please verify)} valence f
• French: ^{(please verify)} valence (fr) f

• Irish: ^{(please verify)} fiús m
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} valens (sv) c

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvæləns/

Noun

valence (plural valences)

1. Alternative spelling of valance

Further reading

• valence on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Valence (chemistry) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Valency (linguistics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Valence (psychology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Expectancy theory on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Douglas Harper (2001–2022), “valence”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• enclave

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Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvalɛnt͡sɛ]
• Rhymes: -ɛntsɛ

Noun

valence f

1. (chemistry) valence, valency

   Synonym: mocenství

2. (linguistics) valence, valency

Derived terms

• valenční

Related terms

• See vale

Further reading

• 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

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French

Etymology

Back-formation from monovalence., etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /va.lɑ̃s/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

valence f (plural valences)

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

See also

• rection
• transitivité

Further reading

• “valence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• enclave, enclavé