Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “valve” come from?

Valve comes from Latin valva, meaning a leaf of a folding door, from Proto-Indo-European welH-, to turn or roll.

valve (English): A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid...

Definitions

  1. A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid...

Ancestry of “valve”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinvalvadouble or folding door; one leaf of such doors
2Proto-Italic*wolVwā-—
3Proto-Indo-European*wol-ew-o-—

Words derived from “valve”

  • bivalve
  • valved
  • univalve
  • valvetrain
  • bivalved
  • valveless
  • valvate
  • microvalve
  • equivalve
  • multivalve
  • valvelike
  • inequivalve
  • univalved
  • equivalved
  • hypovalve
  • valval
  • epivalve
  • trivalve
  • unvalved
  • valver
  • heterovalvate
  • homovalvate
  • valvelet
  • valviform
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *wol-ew-o- →