Where does “Valence” come from?
Valence (English) comes from French Valence, from Latin Valentia, from Latin -ia, from Latin -ius, from Proto-Italic -jōs, from Proto-Indo-European -yós — Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems.
Valence (English): The number of arguments that a verb can have, including its subject, ranging from zero to three or, less commonly, four
Definitions
- The number of arguments that a verb can have, including its subject, ranging from zero to three or, less commonly, four
Ancestry of “Valence”, step by step
Valence traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French Valence
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | Valence | valence |
| 2 | Latin | Valentia | health, vigour, bodily strength |
| 3 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 4 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |
via German Valenz
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Valenz | valence, valency |
| 2 | German | Quantivalenz | quantivalence |
| 3 | English | quantivalence | Valence; the atomic or combining power of an... |
| 4 | Latin | quantus | how much, how many; how big |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | *kʷijentos | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | *kʷíh₂onts | — |