Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “trivalent” come from?

Trivalent comes from Latin tri- meaning three, from Latin tres, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European tréyes meaning three.

trivalent (English): Having a valence of three; Protecting against...

Definitions

  1. Having a valence of three; Protecting against...

Ancestry of “trivalent”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishvalentHaving valence
2EnglishValence—
3FrenchValence—
4LatinValentia—
5Latin-iaUsed to form a feminine abstract noun, usually...
6Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
7Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
8Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “trivalent”

  • trivalently
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →