Valence
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
valence¹
- /ˈveɪl(ə)ns/ UK
- /ˈveɪləns/ US
Rhymes with -eɪləns
Where it comes from
Etymology 1, noun sense 1.1 (“combining capacity of an atom”) and etymology 1, noun 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”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to rule; powerful, strong”)). 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. Doublet of value.
Etymology 1, noun sense 2 (“number of arguments a verb can have”) was formed by analogy to the use of the word in chemistry: see above.
noun valences · valency
- 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.
- The number of binding sites of a molecule, such as an antibody or antigen.
- The number of arguments that a verb can have, including its subject, ranging from zero to three or, less commonly, four. In this assignment you will analyze each of the following sentences and determine the valence of the highlighted verb.
- 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). anger and fear have negative valence
- The value which a person places on something.
- For a correspondence T on a curve: a number k such that the divisors T(P)+kP are all linearly equivalent.
valence²
- /ˈvæl(ə)ns/ UK
- /ˈvæləns/ US
Rhymes with -æləns
Where it comes from
A variant of valance.
noun valences
- Alternative spelling of valance.valance
Valence³
Where it comes from
Borrowed from French Valence. Doublet of Valencia.
proper noun
- A city and commune, the capital of the department of Drôme, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, southeastern France.
- A village and commune in the department of Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, southwestern France.
- A town and commune in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitania region, southern France.
